What a birthday weekend World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is having! She turns 27 on May 5, kicking off the celebration by winning her third Madrid Open on Saturday with a straight-set victory over Coco Gauff, who played some of her best tennis since January on the fast clay courts of Madrid.
Sabalenka has developed a habit of winning in odd years: 2021 over Ashleigh Barty, 2023 over Iga Swiatek, and 2025 over Coco Gauff. She now ties Petra Kvitova for the most titles in Madrid.
✨ MAGICAL IN MADRID ✨
Aryna Sabalenka defeats Gauff in the Madrid final to win the title for the third time in her career, tying Petra Kvitova (2011, 2015, 2018) for the most Madrid titles won.@SabalenkaA | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/l0idrVmtll
— wta (@WTA) May 3, 2025
Aryna Sabalenka Leads The WTA Tour
Sabalenka now has a tour-leading 31 wins in 2025. This is her third title in six final appearances: January’s Brisbane International, March’s Miami Open, and May’s Madrid Open.
She has not dropped a set against a Top 10 player the entire season, and Sabalenka is the first WTA player since Serena Williams in 2013 to win Miami and Madrid in the same year.
Even as Coco Gauff worked her way into the match in the middle of the second set, Sabalenka played aggressively with fewer errors.
There was some concern as she was spotted rubbing her right serving shoulder in between sets. It did not manifest itself in the match, but she has played a lot of tennis this year.
Her celebration and break will be brief as she is headed to Rome to play next week’s Italian Open. Aryna Sabalenka has never won the French Open, but amid Iga Swiatek’s struggles, she has to be a favorite to do so this season because of her strong clay-court play.
She plays like a tiger on the court, but is soft-hearted, fun-loving, and gracious off the court. Sabalenka is a positive role model for the WTA Tour. Her stronghold on the World No. 1 ranking tightens further as she has earned over 11,000 points this year, a feat only accomplished twice before by Serena Williams in 2013 and Iga Swiatek in 2024.
