American tennis player Haley Baptiste reached the semifinals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Spain, defeating world number one Aryna Sabalenka. In the deciding set, the American saved six match points, stopping the winning streak of the defending champion from Madrid.
The WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid is one of the key stages of the clay season. Sabalenka arrived in the Spanish capital as the defending champion and number one seed, having a streak of 15 consecutive victories on these courts.
For 24-year-old Haley Baptiste, ranked 32nd in the WTA rankings, the path to the quarterfinals was accompanied by victories over Caitlin Quevedo, Jasmine Paolini and Belinda Bencic. The tennis players met a month ago at the tournament in Miami, where Sabalenka was stronger, but this time the American managed to take revenge.
The match lasted 2 hours and 30 minutes. After exchanging sets (6:2, 2:6), the fate of the match was decided in the third game. Baptiste was one step away from defeat when her opponent had five match points on the American's serve in the tenth game and another one during the tiebreak. Despite the pressure, Baptiste won all match points and ended the game in her favor with a score of 7:6 in the final set!
WTA 1000. Madrid, quarterfinals
Aryna Sabalenka — Haley Baptiste (USA) 1:2 (6:2, 2:6, 6:7)
What does this result mean?
- Baptiste broke Sabalenka's 15-match unbeaten streak and reached the semifinals of a WTA 1000 event for the first time in her career.
- Baptiste became the second tennis player in the history of the tournament in Madrid to beat Sabalenka by winning match points (previously, only Iza Swiontek managed to do this in 2024).
- The American also became only the second player in 2026 to defeat Sabalenka — the only other loss to a neutral was to Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final. It was also Sabalenka's first loss to a player outside the top 30 since June of last year, when she lost to Marketa Vondrousova.
“It was a tough match. She played great. I played great. I think I had some opportunities in the third set. I felt like I was maybe a little bit in a hurry to finish the set. But that's normal, sometimes you have to learn, take the negative experience from this week and move on,” Sabalenka said.
In the semifinals, Baptiste will face world number eight Mirra Andreeva, who defeated Leila Fernandez in her quarterfinal. Elsewhere on Thursday, April 30, Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk will face Linda Noskova for a place in the next round in Madrid.