Baptiste saves six match points to stun Sabalenka at Madrid Open
Hailey Baptiste stunned world number one and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the Madrid Open quarter-finals to save six match points.
Baptiste, the 30th seed, ended Sabalenka’s 15-match winning streak by winning 2-6 6-2 7-6 (8-6) in just over two and a half hours.
She became the second player after Elena Rybakina to defeat the Belarusian in the Australian Open final this season.
“I played with it a few weeks ago [in Miami] And it was a close game. “I had a better idea of how to play him and the adjustments I needed to make,” the 24-year-old Baptiste said.
“It was uncomfortable for him that I was serving, volleying, shooting on one of the match points. It’s not the easiest position to put him in, and that’s our plan.”
After losing the first set, Baptiste converted three of four break points in the second set to seal a decider.
Trailing 5-4 in the third quarter, the American player took the opportunity to serve for the match after saving 5 match points after breaking Sabalenka for the third time in the set.
Sabalenka fought back and later took her sixth match point in the tiebreak, 6-5. However, Baptiste collected three points in a row and got his first victory against a player in the top five.
In the semifinals, she will face world number nine Mirra Andreeva from Russia, who beat Canadian Leylah Fernandez in straight sets.
“She played some really brave tennis in those match points,” Sabalenka said. “In the first game of the second set, I suddenly double-faulted twice. This gave him faith. He started playing aggressively. What can I say? Well done.”
