Madrid Open: Baptiste stuns world No. 1 Sabalenka for maiden WTA 1000 SF

Madrid: American Hailey Baptiste delivered a stunning upset to knock out World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and book a place in semifinals of the Madrid Open, continuing her dream run at the WTA 1000 event.

The 24-year-old came from a set down and saved six match points to secure a hard-fought 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(6) victory in a contest lasting two hours and 30 minutes. The win not only marked the biggest triumph of her career but also ended Sabalenka’s 15-match winning streak on the tour.

Baptiste, who had never beaten a Top 5 opponent prior to this week, has now registered back-to-back wins over top-tier players in Madrid. She had earlier ousted Jasmine Paolini in the third round and, with this result, advanced to her maiden WTA 1000 semifinal.

Sabalenka looked in control early in the match, racing through the opening set with a dominant display on serve and from the baseline. The top seed dictated play and capitalised on a slow start from Baptiste to take the set comfortably.

However, the momentum shifted in the second set as Baptiste raised her level and began to trouble Sabalenka with aggressive shot-making. A series of errors from the Belarusian allowed Baptiste to seize control, as she broke early and maintained her advantage to level the match.

The decider proved to be a tense and closely fought affair. Sabalenka secured the first break and later moved within a game of victory, earning multiple match points while serving for the match. Baptiste, however, showed remarkable composure under pressure, saving all opportunities against her to force the set into a tiebreak.

In the tiebreak, Sabalenka again held a match point, but Baptiste continued her resilient display and won three successive points to seal the victory and complete a memorable comeback.

With this result, Baptiste moves a step closer to a potential Top 30 ranking and will now face ninth seed Mirra Andreeva in the semifinals, who progressed after a straight-sets win over Leylah Fernandez.

For Sabalenka, the defeat marks a rare setback in an otherwise dominant season, as she missed out on a place in the final four despite being on a 15-match winning streak.

“I played her a few weeks ago and it was kind of a close match. I just got broken once in each set. So I had a better idea of how to play her, and how I should play, adjustments I needed to make. So I think I just went in trying to play my game, still doing the same things that I’ve been doing, but I had a few adjustments I needed to make from the last time we played,” Baptiste said in her post-match press conference.

“I wouldn’t say that I’m necessarily working on hitting balls outside the alley. But obviously when you’re playing points all the time you get into those positions. I actually really enjoy being in those positions, because I feel like I can create shots there. I was able to do it in a really big moment.

I think that she was maybe a little frightened by that. I know I would be if somebody came up with that in that moment. Somebody else that I played before and lost to. A little bit of a revenge tour, I guess. I’m looking to go out there and play my game again and get another win, Baptiste added.

Meanwhile, Sabalenka believed that Baptiste played ‘brave’ tennis as she said, “I feel like in Miami I didn’t give her many opportunities. She couldn’t break my serve. Here, the first game, second set, I just double-faulted twice out of nowhere. It felt like that gave her belief. After that, she just started playing more aggressively. She was playing brave tennis. What can I say? Well done.”

IANS