Perhaps he did it subconsciously; “Please welcome Aryna, Aryna, Aryna… Sabalenka!”, roared the announcer in the Manolo Santana Stadium on Sunday at 18:30, when Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff stepped on court for the final of the Mutua Madrid Open. He shouted Aryna’s name three times. It was as if he already knew what was going to happen.
A couple of hours later, Sabalenka had claimed her third title on the clay of Madrid, after those of 2021 and 2023. The triple crown. Aryna, Aryna, Aryna! She is now the second player in history to etch her name into the trophy at Madrid’s WTA 1000 three times after Petra Kvitova (2011, 2015 and 2018).
The world number one defeated the American Gauff 6-3, 7-6 (3) in a final that had everything. Sabalenka steamrolled her way through the opening games, thumping her forehand, hitting bomb after bomb from the baseline and completely overwhelming a Gauff who was struggling for solutions.
The American managed to hold her opening serve, but then came the tsunami. Sabalenka made it clear that she had only come to Madrid for one thing, the title. The European notched up her first four games practically unchallenged. At 4-1 down, on their opponent’s serve, with a force of nature on the other side of the net, many players would already be thinking about the next set.
However, Gauff wanted to send a message to Sabalenka: it was not going to be that easy, she was going to dig her heels in and make her opponent work for the first set. She eventually lost it 6-3, but the good news for the American was that she now had a foot in the door. She had pulled the red carpet out from under her adversary’s feet.
It was clear Gauff meant business in the second set, when she kept upping her game despite faltering on her serve a number of times. The Florida native celebrated a break, but her joy was short-lived. Sabalenka did what Sabalenka does best, and fought back to force a tiebreak in which she would play her best tennis.
“First of all I’d like to congratulate Coco and her team for all the hard work they’re doing. Hopefully we’ll meet in many more finals. Hopefully I’ll win them”, she laughed. “But you’re a great scrapper, I love your ability to fight”, the champion said at the trophy ceremony. “Thanks to all the sponsors, to Feliciano, you do an incredible job. To all you fans, I love Madrid, thanks for your support, I really enjoy playing in the Caja Magica and you’re the best. Thank you to everyone who makes the tournament possible”.
Aryna also had some words of love for her team: “You’re really fun, you’re incredible. You know everything about me and everything we go through together. You’re family, we work very hard and I love you all too. Not always, but you know I love you loads!”, she joked.
With the win in Madrid, Sabalenka has confirmed that she is, without any doubt, now the player to beat. She will leave the Caja Magica with room to breathe at the top of the world rankings and having sent a warning shot to Iga Swiatek for the French Open, where the Pole has won three of the last four titles.
