Aryna Sabalenka weathers Marta Kostyuk in windy Madrid quarterfinal

Aryna Sabalenka surged into her second straight clay-court semifinal at the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday, navigating windy—and later rainy—conditions to defeat Marta Kostyuk in two tight sets, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7).

"That was a battle and the conditions were incredibly tough," Sabalenka said on court after the match. "It wasn't about tennis, it was about the way you handle your emotions. I think I did that really well and I'm super proud I was able to handle myself in such a difficult situation."

The world No. 1 completed the semifinal line-up, joining defending champion Iga Swiatek, No. 4 seed Coco Gauff and next opponent Elina Svitolina after two hours and 32 minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium.

A two-time champion in Madrid, Sabalenka had dropped just one set in her first three matches at the Caja Magica, rallying to beat former doubles partner Elise Mertens. In her fourth round, she enjoyed a decisive win over American Peyton Stearns, who had pushed her to a third-set tiebreaker in their last match at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open.

No. 24 seed Kostyuk stood between Sabalenka and the semis, having rounded into form after two three-setters to make quick work of Anastasia Potapova in the Round of 16.

The rivals last played on clay in 2023, when Sabalenka advanced in straight sets over Kostyuk at Roland Garros, leaving the latter keen to earn her first win over the top seed. Repeatedly pressuring Sabalenka on serve, she finally scored a break in the ninth game but failed to serve out the set, Sabalenka eventually easing through the subsequent tiebreaker.

As the uncomfortable conditions continued to leave both women off balance, it was Sabalenka who looked poised to secure victory in straight sets when she broke Kostyuk at 5-5 in the second.

Kostyuk bravely saved a match point and forced another tiebreaker. The rain picked up as the Sudden Death got underway, and Sabalenka insisted play stop after missing a first serve at 4-5. The decision from umpire Juan Zhang to give Sabalenka a first serve on the match’s resumption drew ire from Kostyuk, who stood two points from forcing a final set.

Play resumed once the Santana Stadium roof closed, and Kostyuk shook off the frustration to win the next point and engineer two set points. Sabalenka went on to save three set points in total—one with a thunderous backhand winner—before earning a second match point of her own.

Looking much more comfortable under the roof, Sabalenka made no mistake on her second opportunity to claim victory and edged into the final four in just over two and a half hours.

Waiting for her there will be the No. 17 seeded-Svitolina, who breezed into the semis with a straight-sets win over Moyuka Uchijima. Sabalenka leads their head-to-head 4-1, but their last clay-court match went the distance with Svitolina forcing a final-set tiebreaker at the 2024 Internazionali BNL d'Italia.