Aryna Sabalenka Celebrates Madrid Win As Melbourne Misery Disappears

Rewind 12 months and the tussle at the top of the WTA Tour produced one of the most epic Madrid Open finals ever as Iga Swiatek beat Aryna Sabalenka in a match lasting over three hours. It was a fight that defined the power tussle between the Belarusian and the Pole for the champion player of the age. On Saturday, Sabalenka got the better of Coco Gauff 6-3 7-6 (7-3) to claim her third title in the Spanish capital. No one is in any doubt who the clear world No. 1 is now.

Sabalenka’s victory capped an impressive run of form in the last six weeks where she has appeared in four consecutive finals. “I’m super happy that I was able to handle my emotions at the end of the second set. It was really intense and it was a real fight over there. I’m very happy I was able to close this match in two sets,” the 26-year-old told the Tennis Channel after the match.

Sabalenka has become the ‘super’power of the women’s game again after an extended hangover following her shock loss to Madison Keys in the Australian Open final in January. That defeat caused a seismic reaction as Sabalena broke her racket and stormed off the court to compose herself for the post-match presentation. The three-time major champion admitted she had difficulty absorbing the loss up until the point where she could use the anger in a positive way.

There were forced smiles and a graciously amusing runner-up speech in Melbourne in the immediate aftermath, but the shockwaves on the court from the current U.S. Open champion resulted in a miserable Asian swing where she lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova and Clara Tauson. She is now fully over it if results are anything to go by. Winning Miami and Madrid and being a finalist at Stuttgart and Indian Wells means that Sabalenka has won 19 out of the last 21 matches.

The world’s best reeled off 17 points in a row against Gauff to lead 4-1 in the first set, but the second proved a classic battle of willpower with the American going 5-3 up before her opponent finally broke at the fifth time of asking. When the Belarusian dropped her racket in the middle of a rally, she saw the funny side. Life has a different vibe when 4,000 points clear at the top of the rankings. That will be the new update in the WTA table on Monday as Sabalenka becomes only the third woman to reach 11,000 points.

Twelve months ago, Swiatek and Sabalenka were the dominant women in the field sharing nine titles in 2024, including three of the four Grand Slams. The map for the future seemed pretty clear that the top three fight would be between these two and Gauff who ended the year impressively with her WTA Finals victory over Zheng Qinwen.

Sabalenka was on emotional autopilot for the first few weeks following her Melbourne meltdown, but Swiatek has suffered the most trauma after accepting a one-month suspension for contamination of a regulated non-prescription medication melatonin late last year.

“Without my supporters I am not sure I would have been able to find the strength to carry on and keep fighting. Now I have fought the toughest battle in my life, and I hope you will stay with me and keep supporting me,” Swiatek said in November. Her crushing loss by Gauff in the semi-finals at Madrid was another indication that the Pole is still fighting herself in a trophyless 2025.

Gauff hasn’t exactly hit the ground running either, having only reached two quarter-finals in 2025. The real mover and shaker of the year has been the teenage dream Mirra Andreeva who claimed the Dubai Tennis Championships and Indian Wells.

There are some signs that the natural order is being restored in recent weeks though, but there is still an air of uncertainty. Sabalenka is hardly invincible on the slow surfaces (17 of her 20 career titles have been on hard courts) as the tour now moves to the Italian Open and then the French Open where she has never progressed to the final.

Swiatek has three Italian titles and has eaten up four out of the last French Opens. The clay should shift the odds, but Sabalenka is currently leaving the rest in the dust.