Aryna Sabalenka becomes third active WTA player to win 10 matches against a single opponent
Aryna Sabalenka became the third active WTA player to win 10 matches against the same opponent with her 2025 Madrid Open victory over Elise Mertens.
The world No 1 defeated 26th-ranked Mertens 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the third round of the clay-court WTA 1000 event.
The Belarusian star had won 14 consecutive sets against Mertens before losing the first set of their Madrid clash having been 2-0 up.
Sabalenka was dominant thereafter, though, as she broke the 29-year-old Belgian three times in both the second and third sets.
Having lost serve three times in the opener, Sabalenka was broken just once more — after having two set points on her serve to win the second set 6-0.
“I was trying to find the rhythm on my serve,” she explained in her on-court interview.
“The moment I started focusing on the timing, on not rushing the ball, on not overhitting, things really clicked.”
Sabalenka’s win against Mertens improves her record against her former doubles partner to 10-2.
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She has now won nine consecutive matches against the Belgian, having lost two of the pair’s first three encounters in 2018.
The other current WTA Tour stars who have reached double figures for victories against a single player are Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys.
Swiatek holds a remarkable 11-3 record against Coco Gauff, while Madison Keys has won 10 of her 12 meetings with Daria Kasatkina.
With her comeback win over Mertens, Sabalenka has overtaken Mirra Andreeva for the most matches won from a set down at WTA 1000 tournaments since the start of 2024. The Belarusian has claimed eight such victories, while Andreeva sits on seven.
What next for Sabalenka?
Sabalenka will take on either world No 153 Rebeka Masarova or 44th-ranked Peyton Stearns in the last of the Madrid Open.
The 26-year-old is seeking her third Madrid Open crown, having previously won the event in 2021 and 2023. She was a runner-up at last year’s edition of the WTA 1000 tournament, having lost a thrilling final to Swiatek.
The three-time Grand Slam champion is also aiming to win her third tournament of 2025 after victories in Brisbane and Miami.
Sabalenka has also been a runner-up at the Australian Open, the Indian Wells Open and the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart this season.
