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A day after turning 25, Aryna Sabalenka jokingly attributed her win at the Madrid Open on Saturday to the birthday cake she received from the organisers. The reigning Australian Open champion downed top seed Iga Swiatek in the final to win her second Madrid title.
On Friday, Sabalenka and men's World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz both celebrated their birthdays. It was quickly noticed that the 20-year-old Spaniard received a much bigger, multi-tiered cake, while Sabalenka received a smaller one. That attracted criticism from fans as well as players like Victoria Azarenka and Bianca Andreescu.
Meanwhile, on the court on Saturday, Sabalenka notched up her first claycourt win over Swiatek in four attempts, only a fortnight after losing the Stuttgart final. In her on-court interview, Sabaleka cheekily lauded the tournament organisers for the birthday cake for her victory:
"I think it's all because of yesterday's cake. It was too good."
Coming to more serious matters, the 25-year-old thanked Swiatek for pushing her to the limit and predicted they will cross swords again this season:
"It's always tough battles against each other. You always push me to the limit. I hope we're going to keep playing many more times this season."
With the win, Sabalenka improved to 3-5 in her head-to-head with Swiatek. She also improved to a tour-leading 29-4 for the season.
How did the Iga Swiatek-Aryna Sabalenka match pan out?
In only the third 1-2 WTA 1000 title match in four decades, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka served up a spectacle befitting the occasion.
It was the Belarusian who drew first blood, breaking for 5-3 before converting her first set point with an ace. Swiatek then made a strong start to the second set, streaking ahead 3-3, only to drop the next three games. The Pole, though, reeled off three consecutive games again to restore parity.
In the decider, it was Sabalenka's turn to blink at 3-0 up as Swiatek got back on serve. However, after another break of the Pole's serve, Sabalenka served for the match.
Having squandered three championship points, the Belarusian made good on her fourth. Sabalenka blasted 32 winners to Swiatek's 17 in the match.
Interestingly, Aryna Sabalenka's first Madrid title two years ago had also come at the expense of a reigning World No. 1 - the now-retired Ashleigh Barty.
The Belarusian is now almost 1,600 points ahead of No. 7 Elena Rybakina and around 1,900 behind Swiatek in the WTA rankings.
