There is no other clay-court tournament where Aryna Sabalenka has triumphed as she has at the Madrid Masters. Of the 24 titles the world number one has lifted in her career, who will turn 28 next May 5, only four have been on clay. She lifted three of them at the Caja Mágica —the fourth in the Austrian city of Linz in 2020— the woman who has won the tournament the most times (2021, 2023, 2025) alongside Czech Petra Kvitova. The Belarusian ousted American Peyton Stearns (7-5, 6-2, 1h 35m), 43rd in the ranking, in her debut this Thursday. In the four previous occasions she advanced past her first round, the Minsk-born tennis player always reached the final (2021, 2023, 2024, and 2025). “People here connect with me and support me a lot. I’m always excited to come back to Madrid, to feel the atmosphere of the stadium. And then, the food is incredible. That’s all that matters to me, the support and the food,” Sabalenka declared a few days ago at the San Fermín neighborhood venue.
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Her love affair with Madrid is absolute. This year, the Belarusian is staying at the luxurious and exclusive Four Seasons hotel, very close to Puerta del Sol, and enjoys her strolls through Retiro Park. Her game in the Spanish capital is favored by the city’s altitude —about 650 meters above sea level— which makes the shots of the player who hits the ball hardest on the entire circuit fly even faster. “I never forget the feeling of defeat. That feeling hurts me, I hate it. I never forget it, and that’s why I always try to go out and give my best version, because I don’t want to deal with that losing situation,” the tennis player explained last Tuesday, before starting today the defense of the title she won last year at the Manolo Santana by defeating American Coco Gauff in the final.
Sabalenka landed in Madrid, where she received the Laureus Award for best sportswoman of the year last Monday, after winning the WTA 1000s in Indian Wells and Miami, the Sunshine Double, as the Anglo-Saxons call it. She also triumphed in January in Brisbane —a WTA 250, the fourth category of tournaments— but that same month she missed what would have been her third Australian Open, falling in the final to Kazakh Elena Rybakina in her only defeat of the season.
Before arriving at the Caja Mágica, the Belarusian opted out of Stuttgart to “decongest the calendar”. “This season my physical condition has been worse, and I’ve had to rest a bit to recover and do what’s right for my body. For me to show my best tennis every time I compete means a lot,” she commented. The German tournament, a WTA 500, is the first significant clay-court event on the circuit that the Belarusian used to play in recent years. She fell in the final there on four occasions (2021, 2022, 2023, and 2025). Nerves and big matches are precisely her pending subject: “I’ve been working with psychologists and I’ve been doing everything to stay mentally healthy. What I’ve discovered over the years is that it’s very important to surround yourself with people you feel comfortable with, you feel protected with, and you feel free to say whatever you want.”
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Set one ➡️ Sabalenka@SabalenkaA took the first set 7-5 against Stearns!#MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/5UzR4dp7YM
— wta (@WTA) April 23, 2026
The Minsk-born tennis player has dominated the WTA circuit since regaining the lead in October 2024. She has four majors in her history, two fewer than Iga Swiatek, but she has only achieved them on the hard courts of Australia (2023 and 2024) and New York (2024 and 2025). This April, she arrives more rested for the clay-court swing, with her focus on Roland Garros, where in 2025 she lost to Gauff in her first final in Paris. Before that, she will pass through the clay of the Foro Itálico in Rome, where she has also never triumphed, and in Madrid, Romanian Jaqueline Cristian (33rd), whom she swept in March in Indian Wells 6-4, 6-1, awaits her in the next round on Saturday. The fiery Sabalenka, a textbook hitter, is on her favorite clay. “Madrid is super special for me. I’m always excited to come back here and play on this beautiful court. I love this city and I love being here,” she said in 2025 after lifting the trophy she is defending for the third time this year.
