Aryna Sabalenka overcame a huge scare from Naomi Osaka to reach the Madrid Open quarter-finals, fighting back from a set down to win 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 6-2.

The world number one was staring at a first defeat in the Spanish capital since the 2024 final, as Osaka produced a scintillating display to take the opening set, but she fought back to keep her defence of the title going.

Neither player gave up much on serve in the first set, particularly Sabalenka, who held to love three times and only lost five total points in her own service games.

But it was Osaka who came on strong in the tie-break, showcasing some tremendous movement and shot-making to take the first five points en route to a 7-1 success.

And things looked ominous again for Sabalenka at the start of the second set as, having failed to break in a six-deuce second game, she was immediately broken in the next one.

But Sabalenka immediately struck back and, though Osaka held firm in another lengthy service game, the pressure eventually told when the top seed broke again in eight.

Sabalenka was in the ascendency from that point on, with Osaka throwing her racket to the ground after giving up a break point in the decider. The Belarusian broke in game five then did so again in game seven, as she teed up a last-eight meeting with Hailey Baptiste.

Baptiste outlasted Belinda Bencic in a two-hour, 44-minute epic earlier on Monday, triumphing 6-1 6-7 (14-16) 6-3, having squandered six match points in set two.

Leylah Fernandez also reached the quarters with a 6-3 6-2 success against Ann Li, while Karolina Pliskova beat Solana Sierra 6-4 6-3.

Tiger mentality @SabalenkaA comes back to defeat Osaka and return to the quarterfinals in Madrid!#MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/ZPZK1HlsRY

— wta (@WTA) April 27, 2026

Data Debrief: 150 in 200 for Sabalenka

Sabalenka's victory was her 150th at WTA 1000 events, making her only the sixth player to reach that figure since the format's introduction in 2009.

And, Sabalenka only took 200 matches to get there, with Victoria Azarenka (199) the only player to do so in fewer.