MADRID — Hailey Baptiste ended Aryna Sabalenka’s title defense in Madrid on Tuesday and halted the world No. 1’s 15-match winning streak with a 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6) quarterfinal victory to deliver the biggest shock of the tournament so far.
The American saved five match points at 4-5 in the decider and a sixth in the tiebreak before she handed Sabalenka just her second defeat of the year, and her first since the Australian Open final three months ago.
Sabalenka is a three-time champion in Madrid and reached the final in the Spanish capital in each of the last three editions of the event but was unable to shake off the 30th-seeded Baptiste, who peppered her with huge serves and ultra-aggressive ground strokes to reach a maiden WTA 1000 semifinal.
Baptiste came up with huge serves in several crucial moments — finishing the duel with a total of 12 aces and 10 double faults — and even saved a match point with a bold serve-and-volley approach on her way to a memorable two-hour, 30-minute triumph.
“I feel incredible... It was a super tight match, 7-6 in the third, I had to fight off some match points,” Baptiste said.
Next up for the 24-year-old Baptiste is ninth-seeded Mirra Andreeva, who gave herself an early birthday gift by defeating Canadian Leylah Fernandez, 7-6 (1), 6-3, to reach her first Madrid semifinal.
The Russian teenager, who turns 19 on Wednesday, was a recent champion in Linz and improved her clay-court record to 11-1 this season.
Earlier in the day, Jannik Sinner suggested the Madrid Open organizers should reconsider their tournament scheduling to avoid late-night finishes like the one Rafael Jodar experienced in the third round on Sunday.
In a rare 11 a.m. start on Tuesday, Sinner moved past British 19th seed Cameron Norrie, 6-2, 7-5, to reach the quarterfinals.
He explained he was put on first at Manolo Santana Stadium so that Jodar, his potential next opponent, would be scheduled in the afternoon to give the Spaniard time to recover from his three-set win over Joao Fonseca that ended at 1 a.m. on Monday morning.
Sinner will next face Jodar.