World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka outgunned four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in a lung-busting Mutua Madrid Open thriller on Monday.
Sabalenka, a three-time champion in Madrid, reached her fifth quarter-final in Madrid, and a 15th consecutive victory.
The Belarusian recorded a 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 6-2 success against former world No 1 Osaka in an entertaining encounter.
“That was an incredible level,” admitted Sabalenka. “She played really incredible tennis and I feel like I just got lucky with a couple of shots in the third set which is why is kind of felt it went really fast, but overall it was a really incredible fight.
“I’m happy that she brought her fight. I had to fight through and level up my game. I’m happy with my performance.”
Speaking on Sky Sports Tennis, Naomi Broady said it was her “favourite match” of the tournament so far.
“Sabalenka’s ability to sustain the level of intensity is second to none. That loss is going to sting Osaka, but maybe in a few days time she should take a lot of confidence from this match because Sabalenka is far and away the best player in women’s tennis right now and Osaka was right in that.
“It kind of felt Osaka lost belief at the backend of that third set but up until that point she was as good as Sabalenka. It just feels we’re starting to see the old Naomi Osaka.”
Hailey Baptiste vented her frustration despite a huge win over Belinda Bencic to reach the quarter-finals.
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The 30th seed raced through the opening set 6-1, before Bencic edged a marathon tiebreak 7-6 (16-14) to level the match.
Baptiste responded strongly, sealing the decider 6-3 and set up a mouth-watering encounter against Sabalenka.
[skysports.com]
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