No. 1 Sabalenka moves past Stearns into Madrid quarterfinals
The last time Aryna Sabalenka faced Peyton Stearns, Sabalenka was a whisker away from being upset by the American. On Tuesday at the Mutua Madrid Open, though, Sabalenka had an easier time getting the win.
World No. 1 Sabalenka defeated 44th-ranked Stearns 6-2, 6-4 at the Caja Magica, sweeping into the Madrid quarterfinals for the fourth time in the last five years. Sabalenka, the Madrid champion in 2021 and 2023, has amassed 20 career match-wins at this event.
Madrid: Draws | Scores | Order of play
Sabalenka now stands alone as this year's tour-level match-win leader. Tuesday's match was Sabalenka's 28th victory on tour in 2025, putting her one ahead of Jessica Pegula, who has won 27 tour-level matches this season.
Top-seeded Sabalenka will next face No. 24 seed Marta Kostyuk for a spot in the semifinals. Kostyuk defeated 39th-ranked Anastasia Potapova 6-3, 6-2 in Tuesday's nightcap. Sabalenka is 2-0 vs. Kostyuk.
Top seed takes the rematch: In their lone previous meeting, Stearns had Sabalenka on the ropes in the second round of 2024 Indian Wells. On that occasion, Stearns served for the match twice and had a total of four match points, but then-No. 2 Sabalenka persevered and prevailed in a third-set tiebreak.
Tuesday's rematch was closer than the score suggests, as Stearns had a plethora of opportunities in Sabalenka's service games. But Sabalenka was sturdier on the important points, for the most part, and she is now 14-0 this season against players ranked outside the Top 40.
Steely on break points: It was Sabalenka's steeliness when down break point that helped her post a routine-looking scoreline in the first set, even though the games were anything but straightforward.
Stearns held 10 break points in the first set -- and Sabalenka swatted each and every one of those away. Sabalenka's first-serve percentage in the opener was a middling 53 percent, but when she did get that ball into play, she won 83 percent of points, helping her fend off all of Stearns' chances.
On her 13th attempt, Stearns finally converted a break point to reach 3-3 in the second set. The American consolidated for a 4-3 lead, and there was a chance that she and Sabalenka could have headed into another three-set thriller.
But Sabalenka made sure that was not the case, deploying some of her most focused and powerful shots of the day to reel off the next three games and close out her latest win. All told, Sabalenka converted four of her seven break points and fired 22 winners to Stearns' 13 in the match.
