After the match concluded and the thrilled crowd at La Caja Magic celebrated enthusiastically, Aryna Sabalenka remained composed. She didn`t collapse onto the crushed red clay, scream, pump her fists, or show excessive outward joy. Instead, she simply raised her arms in a perfect V, signaling victory.
Following this, she blew kisses to the camera, walked to her changeover chair, retrieved a camera from her bag, crossed the court, and took a picture of her team. Her thoroughly professional 6-3, 7-6(3) win against Coco Gauff on Saturday secured her third Mutua Madrid Open championship. This achievement matches the record total held by Petra Kvitova and, notably, also by Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
While winning is never guaranteed, in Sabalenka`s mindset, this victory felt anticipated. Her strong will was clearly demonstrated during the match`s critical moments. Sabalenka has earned this confidence because, by an unusually large margin, she is currently the leading player in the sport.
Ranking and Form Analysis
On Monday, the World No. 1 is set to become only the third woman in history to accumulate over 11,000 ranking points, holding a lead of nearly 4,000 points over No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the PIF WTA Rankings. This gap is likely to expand. With Swiatek needing to defend titles in Rome and Paris, she will be defending 3,000 points over the next month. Furthermore, because Sabalenka missed Wimbledon last year, her result this year will contribute significantly to her ranking points total.
Sabalenka also leads No. 2 Madison Keys by more than 1,600 points in the PIF Race to the WTA Finals in Riyadh. She is currently the only player on the Hologic WTA Tour with three titles this season—Brisbane, Miami, and Madrid—having secured back-to-back WTA 1000 trophies on vastly different surfaces. Her 31 match victories are also the most among WTA Tour players.
This encounter was Coco Gauff`s tenth match against Sabalenka in six years. Gauff commented on how Sabalenka`s game has evolved over time.
Gauff stated, “I feel like she just got a lot better in everything. I think she just probably is more confident, so that’s why the consistent results are happening.”
Interestingly, examining the timeline of Sabalenka`s career reveals that a past loss unexpectedly served as a significant turning point and catalyst for her current level of performance and success.
