Aryna Sabalenka beat world number one Iga Swiatek on clay for the first time to claim her second Madrid Open title.
Just two weeks after losing to the Pole in Stuttgart, Belarusian Sabalenka won an enthralling battle 6-3 3-6 6-3.
It is her WTA Tour-leading third title of the year and comes two years after she first won in the Spanish capital.
The win also underlines Australian Open champion Sabalenka’s credentials three weeks before the French Open, where Swiatek is the defending champion.
Although Sabalenka, 25, showed signs of frustration after squandering two break points at 3-2 up in the opener, she eventually converted her fourth to take a 5-3 lead from which she served out to take a set on clay off Swiatek for the first time.
The Pole immediately responded by taking a 3-0 lead in the second set, but with some big hitting, Sabalenka powered her way back, winning three successive games before missing two opportunities to break.
From there, it was 21-year-old Swiatek’s turn again to take three consecutive games and the set to take the match into a decider.
Remarkably, the third set continued in the same fashion, with world number two Sabalenka winning three back-to-back games before Swiatek repeated the feat.
Again, after holding her serve and then breaking her opponent, Sabalenka served out for the title and her 29th match win of the season, although she needed four match points to do so in an encounter lasting two hours 25 minutes.
Having beaten Ashleigh Barty in the Madrid final in 2021, both of Sabalenka’s triumphs at the tournament have come at the expense of the then world number one.
