Hailey Baptiste stuns Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals of Madrid

Hailey Baptiste (Hameltion, Wikimedia Commons)

There was a stunning upset in the quarterfinals of Madrid on Tuesday in the women’s singles draw. For only the second time in 2026, world number one Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus was beaten as she was defeated 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 by American Hailey Baptiste of Washington, District of Columbia, the 32nd ranked player in the world.

The ace statistic was a key statistic in the match. Baptiste had 12 aces, compared to only five for Sabalenka.

It has been an amazing run for Baptiste in Madrid. She upset the eighth seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy, 7-5, 6-3 in the third round, and the 11th seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, 6-1, 6-7, 6-3. It was the second set tiebreak that was noteworthy in the Baptiste/Bencic match. That is because Bencic won 16-14.

Paolini, Bencic and Sabalenka are all formidable opponents that Baptiste has beaten in Madrid. Paolini reached the final of the French Open and Wimbledon in 2024, Bencic was a semifinalist at the United States Open in 2019 and Wimbledon in 2025, and Sabalenka is a four time grand slam champion, as she has won the Australian Open twice (2023 and 2024) and the United States Open twice (2024 and 2025).

Paolini and Sabalenka are both ranked in the top 10. Prior to the 2026 Madrid Open, Baptiste had only beaten two players ever ranked in the top 10. She beat Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic in the second round of the 2024 Wuhan Open 6-3, 7-5, and Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the third round of Miami in 2026, 6-3, 7-5.

The only other tennis player to beat Sabalenka in 2026 is Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. Rybakina beat Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the final of the Australian Open. 

Next up for Baptiste in the semifinals is the ninth seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia. This will be their second career match. Andreeva won their first match, 6-1, 6-3, in the third round of Wimbledon in 2025.