Tennis-Baptiste's variety drags Sabalenka out of comfort zone in Madrid shock

Baptiste's 2-6 ‌6-2 7-6(6) victory ended Sabalenka's 15-match winning streak, as the 24-year-old American's inventive tennis under extreme pressure, most notably her serve-and-volley approach, dragged her opponent out of her comfort zone. With the French Open starting ‌on May 24, Baptiste gave four-times Grand slam champion Sabalenka's prospective opponents a reminder that ‌variety often disrupts raw power on the sport's slowest surface.

Hailey Baptiste offered a glimpse of how Aryna ​Sabalenka can be unsettled on clay after ​mixing forays to the net ‌with changes ​of pace to save six match points and prevail over the world number one in their Madrid Open quarter-final on Tuesday. Baptiste's 2-6 ‌6-2 7-6(6) victory ended Sabalenka's 15-match winning streak, as the 24-year-old American's inventive tennis under extreme pressure, most notably her serve-and-volley approach, dragged her opponent out of her comfort zone.

With the French Open starting ‌on May 24, Baptiste gave four-times Grand slam champion Sabalenka's prospective opponents a reminder that ‌variety often disrupts raw power on the sport's slowest surface. "I played her a few weeks ago (in Miami) and it was a close match ... I had a better idea of how to play her and adjustments I needed to make," ⁠Baptiste said.

While ​that clash shaped her ⁠thinking, Baptiste said her decisions in crucial moments on Tuesday were made purely on instinct. "The plan comes to my ⁠head when I get to the line," Baptiste added.

"That's what my brain was telling me to do ... And ​it worked. It doesn't always, but in that moment it did. "It was an uncomfortable situation ⁠for her, me serving and volleying, hitting a drop shot in one of the match points. It's not the easiest ⁠position ​to put her in, which is the plan."

Sabalenka, who will continue her preparations in Rome to improve on last year's runner-up finish at Roland Garros, was gracious in defeat. "She played really ⁠brave tennis on those match points," the 27-year-old Belarusian added.

"In Miami I didn't give her much opportunities ... ⁠Here, in the ⁠first game of the second set I just double-faulted twice out of nowhere. "That gave her belief. She started playing aggressively ... what can I say? Well ‌done."

Baptiste takes ‌on Mirra Andreeva next.