Aryna Sabalenka's Madrid win makes a bigger title in Paris look more possible than ever

Coco Gauff had to stop herself in mid-congratulation. She was about to tell the woman who had just beaten her in the Madrid final, Aryna Sabalenka, that she had played well this week. That must have sounded a little too obvious, so Coco corrected herself with some real talk.

“You’re always doing well,” she said with a laugh.

Sabalenka laughed back, and didn’t try to deflect Gauff’s praise. How could she? gave her a third title in Madrid, a tour-leading third title and 31st match win in 2025, and a second WTA 1000, along with Miami. She has played eight tournaments this season, and reached the final of six of them. In Madrid, she dropped one set in six matches.

But it was the last match that counted most for Sabalenka. Her one vulnerability over the past two seasons has been her record in finals. Coming to Madrid, she had reached 12 of them since the start of 2024, but had only won six. This year, she had lost to Madison Keys at the Australian Open, Mirra Andreeva at Indian Wells, and Jelena Ostapenko the previous week in Stuttgart.

All three times, Sabalenka was the clear favorite. All three times she let the moment overtake her. When adversity suddenly struck in those matches, she panicked and couldn’t get herself back under control in time. Her demeanor seemed to say: “I’m No. 1, I’m the bigger hitter and better player, and I’ve made myself a calmer competitor: How can this still be happening?”

And there were a few moments like that against Gauff in Madrid.

In the first set, after winning 15 straight points and breaking Gauff at love for 4-1, Sabalenka couldn’t keep the pressure on, and nearly let the American level at 4-4. In the second set, she fell behind an early break, and with Gauff serving at 5-4, Sabalenka had to save a set point before breaking back. Then, in the second-set tiebreaker, she let Gauff come back from 0-3 to 3-3.

But each time, instead of panicking, Sabalenka settled down and found a way to stop the negative momentum. Sometimes a Gauff error helped. Other times Sabalenka took the attack to her with one of her ground strokes. In the end, her serve got her over the finish line. After losing three straight points in the tiebreaker, she turned around and fired two unreturnable serves that brought her to match point.

I think every year I come more prepared for anything. There’s no expectations. Aryna Sabalenka

Sabalenka understood how important it was for her to avoid the over-reactions that have plagued her in other finals.

“I’m super-happy I was able to handle my emotions at the end of the second set,” she told Tennis Channel. “It was intense, a real fight over there. I’m happy I was able to close this match in two sets.”

Sabalenka’s No. 1 ranking hardly needs more solidification. This win put her more than 3000 points ahead of Iga Swiatek in the rankings, and nearly 2,000 points ahead of Keys in the year-end race. The question for now is whether this title, coupled with Swiatek’s disastrous 6-1, 6-1 semifinal loss to Gauff on Thursday, makes Sabalenka the favorite to win Roland Garros as well. For today, the answer would seem to be yes. She’s in a much better place than Iga, the three-time defending champion in Paris, is right now.

Still, “right now” may be the most important part of that last sentence. Next week, the women start another WTA 1000 on clay in Rome, where Swiatek is the defending champion. It would be a mistake to think that she can’t right the ship there and in Paris. It would also be a mistake to think that Sabalenka, as far ahead of the pack as she might be, has solved all of her problems in finals for good.

Judging by her reaction to this win, what she has learned is that every day is a new and different one, and she can only play, and win, one match at a time.

“I think every year I come more prepared for anything,” Sabalenka said. “There’s no expectations. I just go out there each time and fight for every point, and I try to bring my best tennis, and that’s it.”

“I try to do everything that’s possible.”

Who could ask for more than that? Sabalenka may never win them all, but that attitude has taken her to No. 1, and made a first title at Roland Garros look more possible than ever.