By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, April 23, 2026
Photo credit: BNP Paribas Open Facebook
Former champions found their footing in fast starts on Madrid’s dirt track.
Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka surged through five of the final six games fending off Peyton Stearns 7-5, 6-3 in her Mutua Madrid Open opener.
Launching her quest for a record-extending fourth Madrid championship, Sabalenka scored her 13th consecutive victory after sweeping WTA 1000 championships in Indian Wells and Miami.
“That was a crazy first round,” Sabalenka told Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj. “I knew that it’s not going to be easy. I feel this court suits her game perfectly.
“The challenge was to find the rhythm. With this altitude my body was a little bit off, but I’m just going to work hard and hopefully in the next round bring some better tennis.”
The 2024 Madrid champion Iga Swiatek swept Ukrainian qualifier Daria Snigur 6-1, 6-2 in today’s first women’s match on Manolo Santana Stadium.
The fourth-seeded Swiatek, who lost to Mirra Andreeva in last week’s Stuttgart quarterfinals, has reached the Madrid final in two of her last three appearances.
Working with new coach Francisco Roig, Rafa Nadal’s former coach, Swiatek is trying to impose her heavy topspin forehand on opponents. Swiatek saved five of six break points in a 61-minute victory to improve to 14-7.
Wimbledon winner Swiatek will play either 31st-seeded American Ann Li or big-serving American qualifier Alycia Parks in the round of 32.
Hungarian Anna Bondar upset seventh-seeded Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-4.
It was Bondar’s second straight win over Svitolina, following her 6-2, 6-4 victory at the US Open last August.
World No. 63 Bondar earned the first Top 10 win of her career at Tour level. Bondar is the first Hungarian woman to defeat a Top 10 player since Timea Babos beat CoCo Vandeweghe at the 2018 Australian Open.
Playing her first clay-court match of the season, Sabalenka was tested in both sets by Stearns, who lost to the Belarusian in the Madrid round of 16 last year.
Sabalenka saved a break point with a biting body serve on a second serve. The Belarusian drew a wide backhand holding for 4-3 after 36 minutes.
Deadlocked at 5-all, Stearns went up Love-30 on Sabalenka’s serve in the 11th game. The top seed tore through four points in a row ending a hard-fought hold with a forehand strike and drop shot winner for 6-5.
Ratcheting up the pressure on the American with proactive positioning, Sabalenka was straddling the baseline ready to receive in the 12th game. Sabalenka tomahawked a heavy forehand return for double set point.
Pouncing on a short second serve, Sabalenka pounded a forehand return winner to seal a one-seat lead with a statement strike.
Mixing the spins and spots on her serve, Stearns smacked successive aces that helped her hold in her opening game of the second set. Dancing around her backhand, Stearns slid an inside-out forehand breaking for 2-1.
The forehand can be a barometer of the Belarusian’s confidence. Sabalenka was feeling her forehand in the fourth game rapping a diagonal forehand followed by a crackling crosscourt return winner to break back.
Controlling the center of the court for much of the rest of the set, Sabalenka charged through five of the last six games to close. Sabalenka smacked a forehand crosscourt, raising her 2026 record to 24-1.
Next up for Sabalenka is 29th-seeded Romanian Jaqueline Cristian.
“I just want to find my game and be in a better rhythm,” Sabalenka said of her title defense.