Sabalenka overcomes Osaka in gripping battle to reach Madrid Open quarter-finals

Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1, overcame Naomi Osaka 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-2 in a gripping battle on Monday to reach the Madrid Open quarter-finals. Sabalenka, who has claimed titles at Miami, Indian Wells and Brisbane this year, was tested by her Japanese opponent in the fourth-round match, but came back from a set down and a break down.

“I was just trying to take one ball at a time and my team was there for me. They really [pushed] me to keep fighting and I’m really happy I didn’t give up and I was pushing until the very last point,” said Sabalenka.

The first set between the two four-time grand slam winners was tight, with only one break point forced, by Sabalenka, which Osaka saved to hold for 2-1. Osaka dominated in the tie-break, ripping into a 5-0 lead and took the set when Sabalenka lashed a return wide.

Sabalenka stepped up a gear in the second set, although Osaka, the world No 15, dug deep to survive three break points and then managed to engineer a break to take a 2-1 lead. However, the Belarusian immediately broke to love and then again in the eighth game, serving out to take the second set.

Only Elena Rybakina has beaten Sabalenka this year, in the Australian Open final, and the 27-year-old dominated the third set, securing breaks in the fifth and seventh games while Osaka could not put pressure on her opponent’s serve.

Sabalenka sealed her victory serving to love with an ace to reach the last eight, where she will face the American Hailey Baptiste. “She’s an incredible player, we had a really tight match in Miami, and especially here in Madrid where I think this surface suits her game,” said Sabalenka. “She played incredible tennis. I feel like I just got lucky in a couple shots in the third set, that’s why it went that fast. I’m happy she brought that fight, I had to fight through to level up my game.”

In the men’s draw, Casper Ruud eased to a 6-3, 6-1 win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to reach the last 16, while Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Daniel Merida 6-4, 6-2.

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