Baptiste knocks out Sabalenka in Madrid as Sinner questions late scheduling

MADRID: Hailey Baptiste produced the biggest upset of the Madrid Open so far on Tuesday, ending Aryna Sabalenka’s title defence with a 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) quarter-final win and stopping the world number one’s 15-match winning run.

The American, seeded 30th, saved five match points at 4-5 in the deciding set and another in the tie-break before sealing what was only Sabalenka’s second loss of the year. It was also the Belarusian’s first defeat since the Australian Open final three months ago.

Sabalenka, a three-time Madrid champion, had reached the final in each of the previous three editions in the Spanish capital. But she was unable to shake off Baptiste, who relied on powerful serving and aggressive groundstrokes to book a place in her first WTA 1000 semi-final.

Baptiste finished the match with 12 aces and 10 double faults, and saved one of the match points with a serve-and-volley play in a contest that lasted two hours and 30 minutes.

“I feel incredible... It was a super tight match, 7-6 in the third, I had to fight off some match points,” Baptiste said. “It just shows me where my game lies, and I've always believed it. And I feel like now I'm starting to put it into action, and the world is seeing it as well. So I'm very confident right now.”

She will next face ninth-seeded Mirra Andreeva, who defeated Canada’s Leylah Fernandez 7-6(7/1), 6-3 to reach her first Madrid semi-final. The Russian teenager, who turns 19 on Wednesday, recently won in Linz and improved her clay-court record this season to 11-1.

Sinner advances and calls for scheduling changes

Earlier in the day, Jannik Sinner said Madrid Open organisers should review the schedule to avoid very late finishes such as the one experienced by Rafael Jodar in the third round on Sunday.

In an unusual 11:00 am start on Tuesday, Sinner beat Britain’s 19th seed Cameron Norrie 6-2, 7-5 to move into the quarter-finals. He said he had been placed first on Manolo Santana Stadium so that Jodar, his possible next opponent, could play later in the day after finishing a three-set win over Joao Fonseca at 1:00 am on Monday.

“It's quite unusual for me,” Sinner told Tennis TV about his early kick-off. “There was a question if it would be me or Jodar to play at 4. But I think it's right he plays at 4, because he finished very, very late. But at the same time, I feel like we need to make some adjustments to the scheduling of the day. Two matches (starting) from 8pm is very late. Even though you have one day in between. But still it's very, very late. You finish at 1:30am, and you need to eat, you need to have treatment, so it's very late. But we try to adapt ourselves, our bodies, our minds, so from my side it was a good performance today.”

Sinner, who is seeking a first semi-final appearance in Madrid, will next meet 19-year-old Jodar. The Spaniard continued his run on home soil with a 7-5, 6-0 win over world number 66 Vit Kopriva.

Ruud survives, Fils and Lehecka progress

Casper Ruud stayed in contention to defend his title after coming through a three-set battle against former finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas, winning 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/3).

In a match lasting three hours, Tsitsipas led 5-3 in the final set, held two match points and served for the match at 5-4. Ruud, who had failed to convert any of his first 11 break-point chances, eventually broke the Greek’s serve and then took the tie-break.

Ruud will now face 21-year-old Belgian Alexander Blockx for a place in the semi-finals.

Arthur Fils, fresh from his title in Barcelona last week, also moved into the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Argentina’s 25th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry. The Frenchman will play Jiri Lehecka, who beat sixth-seeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-3 for a place in the last four.