Eye of the tiger: World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka recovers to defeat Elise Mertens at Madrid Open

Aryna Sabalenka has beaten Elise Mertens for a ninth straight time despite having to go through strife at times at the 2025 Madrid Open against the Belgian who is usually easy pickings for the World No.1.

Sabalenka had to survive a scare from her former doubles partner as she sealed a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win to see off the 28th seed having to come from a set down.

Sabalenka had a hefty 9-2 lead over Mertens including eight in a row going all the way back to 2018 and saw her off in the Quarter-Finals of the Stuttgart Open 6-4, 6-1. This came despite Mertens going 4-3 up and the drama in Stuttgart with the line-call but Sabalenka surged away.

The World No.1 had won 14 consecutive sets against the Belgian until this point. Their 12th meeting saw Sabalenka ease through 10 out of the first 11 points but Mertens surged from 2-0 down to throw the plan into chaos.

Mertens won six out of the next seven games and for the first time since Zhuhai in 2019 won a set. But Sabalenka showed great fight and guile in order to romp back. She turned up the heat and won 12 of the last 15 games of the match.

Next could be Peyton Stearns who has a new coach and is showing a 'new manager bounce' as such has pushed Sabalenka previously so could be a tough opponent. Or it could be Rebeka Masarova.

Elsewhere, Marta Kostyuk is on the verge of victory over Veronika Kudermetova. Sofia Kenin is leading Anastasia Potapova while Maria Sakkari also holds a narrow lead over Jasmine Paolini.

Jessica Pegula, Elena Rybakina v Elina Svitolina and Ekaterina Alexandrova v Daria Kasatkina is to come this afternoon also as the Last 16 line-up fully takes shape.