World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka defeated Coco Gauff to win her third Madrid Open title and 20th career WTA singles crown. With three titles in 2025, she leads the WTA rankings by a wide margin and remains the only woman to win both Miami and Madrid this season.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka clinched her third Madrid Open title on Saturday, overpowering American Coco Gauff 6-3, 7-6(3) in a high-octane final. This victory not only solidifies her status at the top of the women’s game but also marks a major career milestone — her 20th WTA Tour singles title.
The 26-year-old Belarusian was in imperious form, dominating from the baseline with blistering forehands and consistent power that left Gauff struggling to find answers, especially in the first set. Sabalenka raced through the opener, taking it 6-3 with commanding shot-making. Gauff, still seeking her first title of the season, mounted a fight in the second set and even held a set point at 5-4. But Sabalenka remained composed under pressure, eventually forcing a tiebreaker and sealing the match after one hour and 39 minutes.
The win further extends Sabalenka’s phenomenal run in 2025. She has already won titles in Brisbane and Miami this year, and now becomes the first player since Serena Williams in 2013 to win both Miami and Madrid in the same season. With this victory, she also becomes just the second woman in history to lift the Madrid WTA 1000 title three times, joining Czech star Petra Kvitova (2011, 2015, 2018).
Currently ranked World No. 1, Sabalenka’s lead is unprecedented. She now has more than 11,000 WTA ranking points — nearly 4,000 more than her closest rival, Iga Swiatek. This gap could further widen in the coming weeks, with Swiatek needing to defend 3,000 points from her 2024 wins in Rome and Paris. Additionally, since Sabalenka missed Wimbledon last year, she stands to gain significantly at the grass-court major in 2025.
In the Race to the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Sabalenka leads the standings by a wide margin, sitting over 1,600 points ahead of second-placed Madison Keys. She is the only player to have won three titles so far this year and boasts an impressive 31 match-wins — the highest on the tour.
Aryna Sabalenka’s triumph in Madrid confirms her position not just as the dominant force of the season but as one of the most consistent and versatile players on the WTA Tour today. With her confidence peaking and her form unshaken, she looks set to continue her march through the 2025 season with even greater achievements on the horizon.
