A day before her 25th birthday, the 2021 Mutua Madrid Open champion Aryna Sabalenka returned to the final of the WTA 1000 tournament with a 6-4 6-1 victory over Maria Sakkari in the Manolo Santana Stadium.
In the pair’s ninth career meeting, Sakkari recovered from 0-3 down to tie the first set at 3-3, but Sabalenka recorded another break of serve to clinch the first set. The second-seeded Belarusian continued the momentum, dropping just one game as she raced through the second set.
Sabalenka’s opponent in the Mutua Madrid Open final will be world No.1 Iga Swiatek, who raced through her fourth straight win over Veronika Kudermetova 6-1 6-1 in the second semifinal on Thursday. Two weeks ago, Swiatek won when they met in the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
