Sabalenka fights back to beat Osaka at Madrid Open

Speaking after the match, Sabalenka said Osaka, who did not play for 14 months around the birth of daughter Shai in July 2023, "played incredible tennis", adding that the third set went by so fast because she felt she had "got lucky" with some of her shots.

"I'm happy [Osaka] brought that fight, I had to fight through to level up my game," said Sabalenka, who beat Osaka in the fourth round at Indian Wells in March.

Osaka, 28, dominated the first-set tie-break and then broke Sabalenka's serve at the start of the second set to take a 2-1 lead. But the Belarusian stepped up a gear immediately with a 40-0 break to level the set 2-2.

After breaking Osaka again to go 5-3 up, Sabalenka, who has also won titles at Indian Wells and in Brisbane this year, served out to secure the second set and take the contest to a decider.

She conceded just three points in total in the fnal set and then wrapped up the match with her sixth ace of the afternoon.