Sabalenka Is Three Times A Champion In Madrid

Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka (photo: Ion Alcoba Beitia/MMO)

MADRID/WASHINGTON, May 3, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

As the women’s singles final of the WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open unfolded in the Spanish capital city Saturday evening, there were two great champions – World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and World No. 4 Coco Gauff – who marched out on the red-dirt surface of Manolo Santana Stadium to do battle. However, as one realizes with title matches, only one would go home happy.

Which player would it be?

The answer was the 26-year-old Sabalenka, who gave herself an early 27th birthday gift (she turns 27 on Monday) by winning her third Madrid title.

The top-seeded Sabalenka, who came into the Spanish fortnight following a disappointing loss at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final in Stuttgart to Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, played punishing tennis from first ball to last ball and defeated the 21-year-old Gauff, 6-3, 7-6 (3), in one hour and 39 minutes. The champion’s trophy, plus first-prize money of €523,870 and 650 WTA ranking points were all Sabalenka’s to enjoy. It was her 20th career WTA Tour singles title and third Madrid crown (after previously winning the title in 2021 and 2023). It tied her with Petra Kvitova, who also won three titles at Caja Mágica (2011, 2015, 2018). Sabalenka also leveled her career head-to-head against Gauff at five wins apiece.

During the trophy ceremony, Sabalenka praised Gauff after defeating her for her 23rd career win in Madrid. She said: “I want to congratulate Coco and her team on an incredible couple of weeks here. I’m super happy to see you back in the finals. I’m sure we’ll play many more times in the finals. I hope I’m going to get all of them but I always enjoy fighting against you. You’re such a fighter. Happy to see you back, honestly.”

As the final unfolded, Sabalenka dominated the 35-minute opening set by breaking Gauff’s serve three times in five opportunities. Although the American got one of the breaks back, she was unable to capitalize on the opportunity. Instead, the Belarusian struck with authority by hitting 12 winners, including three on return, and pressured Gauff into committing 11 unforced errors. Sabalenka outpointed her opponent 34-20 to move one step closer to winning her third Madrid champion’s trophy.

No doubt, Gauff would need to reset if she were to defeat Sabalenka, but could she? Maybe.

Gauff rallied in the second set by breaking Sabalenka early to go ahead 2-1 and consolidated it to increase her lead to 3-1. She was tested in the sixth game and saved a pair of break points to hold serve at 4-2 during a 12-point see-saw game. Following a series of holds by both players, Gauff served for the set ahead 5-4 but quickly found herself facing multiple break points at 0-40. However, she saved the first one with a forehand winner, and the second one with a drop-shot winner. Then, Gauff won a seven-shot rally with a forehand winner that clipped the line and stung Sabalenka. It set up a set point but Sabalenka gained a deuce point. Then, Gauff faced another break point after netting a fifth-shot forehand but saved it – her sixth break-point save of the set.

Soon, Gauff hit a fifth-shot forehand long that set up another break point for Sabalenka – her fifth of the game. Finally, Sabalenka finally broke when Gauff netted a forehand that killed a brief, three-shot skirmish.

With the second set level at 5-all, Sabalenka held for 6-5 after trailing 0-30. It put the pressure on Gauff to hold serve and take it to a tie-break or surrender the title to Sabalenka.

Quickly, Gauff fell behind 0-30 after committing two unforced errors. Next, she won a topsy-turvy, nine-shot exchange and gained 30-all after Sabalenka hit a forehand return long. Soon, Sabalenka gained championship point after Gauff overhit a fifth-shot forehand return that sailed long. Next, Gauff fended off the championship point when Sabalenka hit an errant backhand. She went on to hold serve and forced a tie-break after Sabalenka sailed a forehand long. It gave Gauff some hope, while Sabalenka was clearly frustrated after letting a championship point go for naught.

In the tie-break, Sabalenka jumped out to a 3-0 lead as she settled into a grove and got focused but it didn’t last for long. Instead, she allowed Gauff back into the tiebreaker. Gauff leveled the score 3-all before netting a return that gave her opponent a 4-3 mini-break advantage. Sabalenka increased her lead to 5-3 and gained another championship point at 6-3 with a service winner.

Finally, Sabalenka prevailed when Gauff double-faulted on championship point No. 2. It was Gauff’s eighth double fault of the final, which left her no doubt feeling a sense of disappointment. Meanwhile, on the other side of the net, it was Sabalenka raising her arms in celebration. She blew kisses to the crowd that filled the arena in appreciation.

A comparison of the final statistics shows just how much Sabalenka dominated the championship match. She won 68 percent of her first serve points, hit 21 winners to 26 unforced errors, converted four of 13 break points and outpointed Gauff 81-61. Meanwhile, Gauff won just 57 percent of her first serve points, hit 25 winners and made 33 unforced errors. She converted two of three break points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Sabalenka.

After collecting her runner-up plate, Gauff smiled to the crowd, turned to Sabalenka and said: “I’d like to congratulate Aryna on an incredible tournament. You’re always tough to face. Congrats to your team. … You’re always doing well, the last four finals. Congrats on all the success you’ve been having.” Then, in thanking her team, she said: “Sorry I couldn’t pull it out for you guys today. We’ve all been working incredible hard but I definitely think this is a step in the right direction. Hopefully, we can go for more and win a bigger trophy.”

After an hour and 39 minutes, it was Sabalenka who was the Queen of Spanish Clay in Madrid. She improved to 6-0 against the WTA Top 10 – and without losing a set this season. It was her WTA Tour-leading 31st victory and third title of 2025 – and second straight WTA 1000 crown – after winning crowns in Adelaide and Miami. Sabalenka became just the second player to win Miami and Madrid in the same season, joining Serena Williams in 2013.

Later, during an on-court interview with Tennis Channel, Sabalenka shared her thoughts on what she had accomplished in Madrid. “Honestly, I am super happy I was able to handle my emotions in the end of the second set. It was really intense and it was a real fight. I’m super happy I was able to close the match in two sets,” she said.

“Honestly, I love great battles and when I see my opponents playing their best, it always brings you to another level – and I enjoy it even more. I saw [Coco] was struggling a little in the beginning of the year, and I’m happy she made it to the finals and is finding her rhythm. We’ve always had great battles in the past, and even though I lost some of them, it was enjoyable for me to play, for the fans to watch.”

Around Caja Mágica

Sunday afternoon’s women’s doubles final will be contested between a pair of unseeded teams. On one side of the net will be Sorana Cirstea of Romania and Anna Kalinskaya of Russia and on the other side will be Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens of Belgium.

During Friday’s semifinal round, Cirstea and Kalinskaya upset No. 3 seeds Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 7-6 (2), 6-4, to reach their first final as a team. They’ve gone 4-0 in Madrid and have won three of their matches in straight sets.

Meanwhile Kudermetova and Mertens rallied to beat wild cards Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Ashlyn Krueger of the United States, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8, to reach their seventh final as a team – and first since winning the WTA Finals Fort Worth in 2022.

Saturday’s Mutua Madrid Open results

Sunday’s Mutua Madrid Open order of play

By the numbers

Aryna Sabalenka is the first player to reach six WTA Tour-level finals in the first four months of a season (start of tournament) since Martina Hingis in 2001.

“Quotable …”

“I’m going to be honest, it’s not important to me, honestly. I mean, the only number that would mean a lot to me is [No.] 1 at this point. But, yeah, anything anywhere else is just, it’s just a number. So, yeah, but, I mean, obviously it’s a reward for the work that I’m doing and the consistency that I’m showing, but it’s not something that I think about or have a goal to reach.”

– World No. 4 Coco Gauff, during her post-match news conference after defeating World No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the semifinal round, responding to a reporter’s query that if she were to win the Madrid title, she would rise in the WTA Rankings to No. 2.

 

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