In their third meeting over the course of five weeks, Aryna Sabalenka overcame a mid-match slump and turned into higher gear in the last two games to defeat Ashleigh Barty 6-0 3-6 6-4 in the final of the Mutua Madrid Open.
The fifth-seeded Sabalenka absolutely dominated the first set. The Belarusian hit 11 winners to just one unforced error and faced no break points as she served the top seed a bagel in 25 minutes.
In the second set, Sabalenka leveled from 0-2 to 2-2, but then she allowed to be broken again in the crucial fifth game and Barty marched into the decider.