Baptiste saves six match points to stun Sabalenka

Baptiste is one win away from her first WTA Tour-level singles final Hailey Baptiste saved six match points as she stunned world number one and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open. Baptiste, the 30th seed, came through 2-6 6-2 7-6 (8-6) in a little over two and a half hours to end Sabalenka's 15-match winning streak. She is just the second player, after Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final, to defeat the Belarusian this season.

"I played her a few weeks ago [in Miami] and it was a close match. I had a better idea of how to play her and adjustments I needed to make," Baptiste, 24, said. "It was an uncomfortable situation for her, me serving and volleying, hitting a drop shot in one of the match points.

It's not the easiest position to put her in, which is the plan. " After dropping the first set, Baptiste converted three of her four break points in the second to force a decider. Trailing 5-4 in the third, the American saved five match points before earning the opportunity to serve for the match after breaking Sabalenka for a third time in the set.

Sabalenka broke back and later brought up a sixth match point at 6-5 in the tie-break. However, Baptiste rattled off three consecutive points to complete her maiden win over a top-five player. She will face world number nine Mirra Andreeva, of Russia, who beat Canada's Leylah Fernandez in straight sets, in the semi-finals.