Aryna Sabalenka's Madrid Open defence was stopped in remarkable fashion by Hailey Baptiste, who downed the world number one 2-6 6-2 7-6 (8-6) in the quarter-finals.

Sabalenka remarkably squandered six match points against the 30th seed on Manolo Santana Stadium, as her 15-match winning streak came to a surprise end.

Things had started so well for Sabalenka, who broke in the opening game and went on to boss the first set, getting another break in game eight to put one foot in the semis.

But things flipped completely in the second set, when Sabalenka was dominated in startling fashion. The four-time grand slam champion gave up a cheap break in game one by double faulting, and two more followed either side of Sabalenka recovering one break in a mammoth game. 

Baptiste served out the second set, and the third was a topsy-turvy affair that saw three instances of a player going a break up, only to immediately broken back in the next game.

At 5-4 up and facing the Baptiste serve, Sabalenka saw five match points pass her by before losing a five-deuce game. The Belarusian was then broken herself to go 5-6 down, but she hit back to force a winner-take-all tie-break.

To reach the quarters, Baptiste had to outlast Belinda Bencic in the longest tie-break of the WTA main-draw season, edging a 30-point decider.

She drew on that experience as she staved off another Sabalenka match point, then made her second one count. 

Baptiste's semi-final opponent will be ninth seed Mirra Andreeva, who beat Leylah Fernandez 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 earlier on Tuesday.

CAREER DEFINING MOMENT @savvy_bap sends shockwaves through Madrid as she takes out the No.1 seed Sabalenka in three sets!#MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/6CJT2vJirt

— wta (@WTA) April 28, 2026

Data Debrief: Sabalenka stunned as Baptiste earns statement win

The last time Sabalenka was beaten after squandering match point was against Iga Swiatek in the 2024 Madrid Open final – her previous defeat at the event.

Baptiste's first top-five win made her only the second American to defeat the world number one at the Madrid Open, after Serena Williams beat Victoria Azarenka in the 2012 final.

And she is also just the second player to reach her maiden WTA-level clay-court semi-final in Madrid, after Louisa Chirico 10 years ago.