Aryna Sabalenka’s Madrid Open title defence ends with shock defeat by Hailey Baptiste
The defending champion cruised through the first set but saw six match points go begging in only her second defeat of the season
Aryna Sabalenka ’s defence of her Madrid Open title ended in a stunning defeat by American Hailey Baptiste in the quarter-finals. Baptiste saved six match points in the third set to come through 2-6 6-2 7-6(8-6) in just over two and a half hours, becoming just the second player this season - after Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final - to down the world No 1. It brought an end to a 15-match winning streak for the Belarusian, who had overcome Baptiste easily in their only previous meeting, 6-4 6-4 in the Miami Open quarter-finals last month.
Baptiste said: “I played her a few weeks ago and it was a close match. I had a better idea of how to play her and adjustments I needed to make. “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. ” It was the biggest win of the 24-year-old’s career and her first over a top-five player, while it also marked the first time Sabalenka had been beaten from match points up since the thrilling 2024 final in Madrid, won by Iga Swiatek . Baptiste will face another top 10 player, world No 8 Mirra Andreeva , in her first WTA 1000 semi-final.
The Russian won their only previous meeting 6-1 6-3 at Wimbledon last season. “Somebody else that I played before and lost to,” Baptiste said. “A little bit of a revenge tour, I guess.