One win away from third Madrid Open crown: Aryna Sabalenka's power game too much for Svitolina

Aryna Sabalenka secured a notable 6-3, 7-5 victory against Elina Svitolina and advanced to the final of the Madrid Open for the fourth time in her career. The Belarusian – champion in 2021 and 2023 – now has 125 wins in WTA 1000 tournaments and will seek her 9th crown in the category against the impressive Coco Gauff.

The world No. 1 once again delivered a spectacular performance to emerge from the complicated moments of the match and was dominant on her serve to extend her head-to-head record against Svitolina to 5-1.

A start where both had good service games early on, with Sabalenka serving first. With the score at 1-1, a streak of 10 consecutive points began, and without problems on her serve, she moved ahead 4-1 against erratic moments from the Ukrainian. The world No. 17 held her serve in a tight game to make it 4-2 and then surprised by breaking back with aggressive play.

Unfortunately for Svitolina, a double fault ended up giving Sabalenka the decisive break. The Ukrainian earned a break point, but ultimately the Belarusian was strong on her serve and closed out the first set 6-3. The Belarusian won an incredible 79% of her first serve points, compared to only 56% for the Ukrainian, and also totaled 13 winners against Svitolina's 9.

The world No. 1 took advantage of the momentum at the start of the second set and secured an early break to move ahead quickly. After holding her serve, the match was in a moment of constant errors from Svitolina and with less rhythm compared to the first set.

Svitolina began to improve her serve effectiveness to prevent Sabalenka from running away with the set. The Ukrainian saved a break point against her at 2-4 and stayed in the contest, with good results for her, as Sabalenka showed doubts at 4-5, committed a double fault and an unforced error that resulted in Svitolina's break, leveling the score at 5-5 and keeping her alive in the match.

When it seemed that the Ukrainian was finding her game again, she couldn't confirm it on her serve, and Sabalenka got the break that would define the match. With her serve, she didn't have major problems and ended up defeating the Ukrainian 6-3, 7-5. In the final, she will face Coco Gauff, against whom she has a 4-5 head-to-head record (0-1 on clay). The American arrives full of confidence after sweeping past Iga Swiatek in the semifinals 6-1, 6-1.