Aryna Sabalenka clinches Naomi Osaka comeback in Madrid thriller

Aryna Sabalenka held off a near-perfect performance from Naomi Osaka to reach the Mutua Madrid Open quarterfinals on Monday, defeating the former world No. 1, 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-2.

The defending champion and world No. 1 trailed Osaka by a set and a break but roared back to book her spot in the last eight—and score a 150th WTA 1000 match win—after two hours and 20 minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium.

"That was an incredible level," Sabalenka said on court. "She played really incredible tennis. I feel like I just got lucky with a couple shots in the third set and that's why it went that fast. But overall, it was really an incredible fight. I had to level up my game and I'm happy with the performance."

Sabalenka, who previously shared an agent with Osaka, was playing her first tournament since securing the Sunshine Double in March, becoming the fifth different woman to win both Indian Wells and Miami in the same year. A three-time champion in Madrid, she was impressively efficient through her opening rounds over Peyton Stearns and No. 29 seed Jaqueline Cristian.

Meanwhile, Osaka arrived at the Caja Magica firmly inside the Top 20 but the four-time Grand Slam champion has often struggled to reclaim the form since returning from maternity leave, winning just two matches against Top 10 opposition in the last two and a half years. While she has posted her best results on hard courts—winning two Australian and US Open titles—her prospects have historically dipped on clay, on which she has reached just two WTA 1000 quarterfinals (both in 2019).

"She's such an inspiration," Sabalenka said of Osaka. "Coming back from pregnancy to a sport like tennis is not easy. To see her back in Top 10, and for sure she's going towards Top 10. It's incredible, it's inspiring, and she gives all of us hope that we can go for babies, and come back to still play that level of tennis."

Still, she enjoyed an impressive start to her Madrid campaign, earning straight-sets victories over two clay-courters in Camila Osorio and Anhelina Kalinina to book a rematch with Sabalenka, who beat her in straight sets last month at the BNP Paribas Open. Coming into the match, Osaka was 0-6 vs. Top 10 players on clay and hadn’t beaten a reigning No. 1 since 2019 (Beijing, d. Ashleigh Barty).

Both Osaka and Sabalenka proved to be in rare form through the early stages of the match, neither giving up a break of serve through the first 12 games.

Though Sabalenka has typically shined in tiebreakers—at one point winning 19 in a row last season—Osaka stormed through the Sudden Death, winning the first five points before putting herself a set away from her biggest victory in over six years.

Osaka looked completely in the driver’s seat when she navigated a tense opening serve game put herself up a set and a break, but Sabalenka battled back to level and reversed a 40-0 deficit at 4-3 to break for a second time and find herself serving for the set.

Sabalenka won eight points in a row to engineer triple set point, converting her second with an ace to force a decider.

On the back foot after losing her lead, Osaka saved four break points early in the third with some strong serving but Sabalenka kept pressing and nabbed the first break of the final set. The mistakes began to pile up for Osaka—43 in total to 35 winners—as Sabalenka closed in on a double-break advantage, an ill-timed double fault pulling up a break point.

Osaka saved one but couldn’t save a second, missing wide off the forehand; Sabalenka headed to the chair, preparing to serve for the match.

With all the momentum on her side, Sabalenka surged to three match points, but the top seeded only needed one to edge into the last eight after nearly two and a half hours on court, ending the contest with a practically even 31 winners to 33 unforced errors.

Standing between her and a return to the semifinals is surprise quarterfinalist Hailey Baptiste, the No. 30-seeded American who shocked Belinda Bencic in three sets earlier in the afternoon. Sabalenka won her most recent match with Baptiste in straight sets at the Miami Open.