American Hailey Baptiste saves 6 match points to stun world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka at Madrid Open
Tales Azzoni
Associated Press
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Hailey Baptiste, of the United States, celebrates a point during her match against Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, at the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)Hailey Baptiste, of the United States, returns the ball to Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)Hailey Baptiste, of the United States, reaches for a shot against Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus returns the ball to Hailey Baptiste of the U.S. during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, returns the ball to Hailey Baptiste, of the United States, during the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Hailey Baptiste, of the United States, celebrates a point during her match against Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, at the Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
MADRID ā American Hailey Baptiste earned the biggest win of her career by saving six match points and beating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka at the Madrid Open on Tuesday.
The 32nd-ranked Baptiste rallied to a 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6) victory ā her first over a top 5 opponent. She will play in a WTA 1000 semifinal for the first time.
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The result ended a 15-match winning streak for Sabalenka, who was the defending champion in Madrid.
The 24-year-old Baptiste is the first player to beat Sabalenka from match points down since Iga Swiatek did it in the 2024 final in Madrid.
āIt was a tough match. She played great,ā Sabalenka said. āI played great. I think I had some opportunities in the third set. I felt like I was maybe a little bit rushing the point over there. But itās OK, sometimes I guess you have to learn, take the bad stuff from this week and move on.ā
Baptiste will face No. 8 Mirra Andreeva, who advanced to her first Madrid semifinal with a straight-set win over Leylah Fernandez.
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