MADRID-Aryna Sabalenka is the first Madrid Open finalist after she took down Maria Sakkari in two sets 6-4 6-1 to continue her magnificent season so far. 
This is a tournament she won back in 2021, and she returned to the final by beating Sakkari for the sixth time on tour. “It’s just a magical season so far,” she said after reaching her fifth final of the year. “Hopefully I can keep going this way.” She turns 25 on Friday, but added: “I’m going to focus on the final, and after the final I will celebrate my birthday – and hopefully something else!” Sabalenka now has 25 wins against opponents ranked in the Top 10 since Eastbourne in 2018 – more than any other woman on tour.
It was Sabalenka who struck first after 52 minutes. After having a 3-0 lead chased down, she seized her opportunity to break and take the first set, capitalising on her first set point with a series of fierce forehands that left Sakkari floundering. The world No 2 made an equally swift start to the second set as the ninth seed crumbled. Despite reassurance from her box, Sakkari lost her calm and concentration, and her serve in particular suffered.
Sabalenka, ranked No 2, will face the winner of the match between Pole Iga Swiatek, the top seed, and Russian Veronika Kudermetova, the No 12 seed, next – and she told British TV that she already knew the opponent she wanted to face. “I want to play Swiatek,” she said. “It’s always great battles with her, always tough matches. I want to get the revenge!”
The two last played each other in the final of Stuttgart, when the world No 1 won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. The Belarusian beat Romanian Sorana Cirstea (6-4, 6-3), Colombian wildcard Camila Osorio (6-4, 7-5), Russian wildcard Mirra Andreeva (6-3, 6-1) and Egyptian Mayar Sherif (2-6, 6-2, 6-1) ahead of her victory.
In the previous rounds of the Madrid tournament, Sakkari, ranked No 9, defeated Dutch qualifier Arantxa Rus (6-4, 6-4), Spanish wildcard Rebeka Masarova (3-6, 6-3, 6-3), Spaniard Paula Badosa, the No 26 seed (6-4, 6-4) and Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu, the No 31 seed (6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2).