World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka faced a test from her former doubles partner, the No. 28 seed Elise Mertens, at the Mutua Madrid Open before successfully navigating the challenge to reach the fourth round. Sabalenka ultimately won the match with a score of 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Sabalenka entered the contest holding a significant head-to-head lead over Mertens, standing at 9-2 overall. Notably, she had won their previous eight meetings dating back to 2018, including a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 victory in the Stuttgart quarterfinals just the previous week. This dominance extended to set wins, with Sabalenka having taken 14 consecutive sets against Mertens (15 if including a retirement win in 2021). Their encounters had largely lacked competitive tension for half a decade.
The twelfth match between them initially seemed to follow the familiar pattern, with Sabalenka quickly securing 10 of the first 11 points. However, from being 2-0 down in the first set, Mertens unexpectedly shifted the momentum. She claimed six of the subsequent seven games, taking the first set and doing so against Sabalenka for the first time since Zhuhai in 2019.
Despite dropping the opening set, the two-time Madrid champion Sabalenka swiftly regained control of the match. Increasing her intensity and finding her accuracy, she dominated the rest of the encounter, winning 12 of the final 15 games. This performance secured her place in the tournament`s last 16 for the fourth time in her career. Her next opponent is scheduled to be the winner between Peyton Stearns and qualifier Rebeka Masarova.
Jasper Hawthorne 
Dominic Ashworth