Aryna Sabalenka defeated top-ranked Ash Barty 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 for her 10th WTA title at the Madrid Open — and first on clay.
Ash Barty, whose time at No1 is guaranteed to extend beyond its current 74 weeks when the tennis tour moves from the Madrid 1000 to the Rome 1000 on Monday, has certainly justified her place at the top of her sport.
Third seed Dominic Thiem bowed out to Alexander Zverev in the Mutua Madrid Open semi-finals, but the Austrian is still taking his week in the Spanish capital as a win.
Alexander Zverev followed his triumph over Rafael Nadal with a win over Dominic Thiem to reach another Madrid Open final on Saturday.
In his first ATP Masters 1000 appearance since the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, five-time champion Novak Djokovic could face the man who eliminated him from that tournament — Daniel Evans — in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia second round.
Rafael Nadal’s quarterfinal loss to Alexander Zverev at the Madrid Open on Friday came as an unexpected setback in a week in which the king of clay said he was feeling good about his game.
Casper Ruud eased past Alexander Bublik 7-5, 6-1 to move into the Mutua Madrid Open semi-finals on Friday.
Rafael Nadal’s bid to reach a 75th semifinal at a Masters event ended Friday with a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Alexander Zverev.
