Aryna Sabalenka has reached the quarter-finals of the Mutua Madrid Open by defeating Naomi Osaka 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 in a demanding midday clash. It is the first time in the tournament the world No. 1 has had to come from behind, having strung together six consecutive matches in the Caja Magica without dropping a set, a run that Osaka ended by taking an early lead after a tiebreak.
The match brought together two players who have both held the world number one ranking. Sabalenka currently occupies the top spot, while Osaka did so for 25 weeks. The Japanese star, now ranked 15th, arrived in Madrid following a marked improvement compared to this time last year, when she was ranked 55th. In the Caja Magica, she took down Camila Osorio and Anhelina Kalinina. Her best previous result at the tournament was a quarter-final finish in 2019.
Osaka made a confident start, matching Sabalenka’s power to take the opening set to a tiebreak, which she would claim to end the defending champion’s run of consecutive sets won in Madrid. This was a new scenario for Sabalenka this week, as she had previously beaten Peyton Stearns and the 29th seed, Jaqueline Cristian in straight sets.
The turnaround came in set two, where Sabalenka improved her return and managed to force a decider. There, the defending champion asserted her greater consistency to close out the match 6-2. With today’s victory, she extends her winning streak to fifteen matches, a run that includes her titles in Indian Wells and Miami. In those two finals, she defeated Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff, respectively.
This statistic is significant because Sabalenka is aiming to become the first player to win three consecutive WTA 1000 tournaments since Iga Swiatek in 2022, when she claimed Doha, Indian Wells and Miami. Madrid would be the third part of Sabalenka’s triplet after her Sunshine Double.
There is also a historical angle to the tournament. Sabalenka has won the Mutua Madrid Open three times; in 2021, 2023 and 2025, as did Petra Kvitova, who triumphed in 2011, 2015 and 2018. A fourth crown would make her the player with the most women’s singles titles in the tournament’s history. To date, all of Sabalenka’s clay-court titles on the WTA Tour have come in Madrid.
The world No. 1 is also seeking to break a pattern that has repeated itself in the Caja Magica; she has never successfully defended the title. She won in 2021 but didn’t repeat in 2022; she won in 2023 but not in 2024. Now, as the 2025 champion, she is still in the running to defend her title for the first time. Since Simona Halep did so in 2017, no woman has successfully defended in Madrid. Such is the challenge of this tournament.
The victory over Osaka also extends another Sabalenka statistic; she has won her last 30 matches against players ranked outside the Top 10. Her last defeat to a player in that bracket came against Amanda Anisimova, then number 12, in the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2025.
Thus, Sabalenka is in her 33rd quarter-final in WTA 1000 tournaments and her third of the season, following her title-winning campaigns in Indian Wells and Miami. In Madrid, she now has 26 victories, the highest at the event among active players. In the history of the Caja Magica, only Petra Kvitova, with 32, and Simona Halep, with 30, are ahead of her.
Osaka misses out on her 13th quarter-final in WTA 1000 tournaments and her first since the final in Montreal 2025. Even so, the Japanese star enjoyed her best performance in Madrid since 2019 and consolidated her return to the upper echelons of the rankings.