Tennis
Sabalenka overcomes gritty Stearns, Andreeva proves too hot for Udvardy at Madrid Open
World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka began her Madrid title defense campaign on a strong foot as she scored a gritty 7-5, 6-3 win over Peyton Stearns to advance to the third round at the Mutua Madrid Open for the fifth time in her career.
The three-time champion in the Spanish capital picked up her 13th straight win this season and will face Jacqueline Cristian in Saturday’s third round.
Ninth-seeded Mirra Andreeva scored a straight-sets win over Hungary’s Panna Udvardy to advance to the third round on Thursday evening. The 18-year-old defeated Udvardy 7-5, 6-2 to set up a third-round clash against another Hungarian, qualifier Dalma Galfi, whom she will face for the first time on the WTA Tour.
Though the scoreline indicates a routine win for Sabalenka, it certainly didn’t come without a test from Stearns. The American forced three break points in the opening game, though Sabalenka would ultimately get the hold in three deuces. Then, Stearns went on a tear, winning eight straight points, both holding serve and breaking Sabalenka at love for a one-break heading into the second changeover.
I’m just glad that I got the win: Sabalenka
“I’m just glad that I got the win,” Sabalenka said. “Maybe not that beautiful, but I felt by the end of the match, I felt much better on court.
“It wasn’t an easy one. I did my work before coming here, but altitude and these courts and her game, it wasn’t easy,” she said.
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Sabalenka, however, got the break back in a 13-point game, she converted 4-of-12 (33%) of break points in the one hour and 35-minute match.
Stearns fought till the very end, creating two more break points in the final game, but Sabalenka came in the clutch by saving them both to move on in Madrid. “Today, I came in like it’s a fresh start for me, and it wasn’t maybe that smooth and movement maybe wasn’t that good, I’m happy I got a win, and I’ll just do some extra stuff tomorrow,” Sabalenka said.
Swiatek cruises, Svitolina crashes out
Meanwhile, two of the Mutua Madrid Open’s 2025 semifinalists got their 2026 campaigns under way with contrasting results. No. 4 seed Iga Swiatek, the 2024 champion, enjoyed a dominant 6-1, 6-2 victory over qualifier Daria Snigur in just 61 minutes. However, No. 7 seed Elina Svitolina fell 6-3, 6-4 to Hungary’s Anna Bondar.
Just 24 hours earlier, Snigur had pulled off one of the wildest wins of the tournament to date, ousting Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(13) in the sixth-longest third-set regular tiebreak of the century so far. But the Ukrainian, competing in the first clay-court WTA main draw of her career, was unable to impose her flat hitting on Swiatek.
Consecutive double faults in Snigur’s opening service game led to an immediate break, and set the tone for the rest of the match. Swiatek landed 16 winners to Snigur’s seven, while the latter was undone by 22 unforced errors. A slow start to the second set resulted in the Pole trailing 2-0, but she quickly righted the ship to concede just seven more points in the next six games.
Swiatek’s third-round opponent will be No. 31 seed Ann Li, who defeated qualifier and American compatriot Alycia Parks 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3.
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Bondar and Svitolina have been familiar foes recently, this was the fourth meeting between the pair, all of which have come in the past 12 months. Indeed, they faced off in three of last year’s majors, and though Svitolina won the first two, at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, Bondar notched her first win in the series 6-2, 6-4 in a first-round US Open upset.
No. 7 seed Elina Svitolina fell 6-3, 6-4 to Hungary’s Anna Bondar
The World No. 63 has been in solid form of late, reaching quarterfinals in Hobart and Rouen, and has won the most 6-0 sets of any player at tour level in 2026 so far with six in total. She delivered an impeccable performance against Svitolina, repeatedly finding the lines with cleanly-struck winners — 27 in total, compared to only nine unforced errors, with her backhand down the line standing out in particular.
It was all the more impressive considering that this was only Bondar’s second encounter with a Top 10 player, following her loss to Paula Badosa at Charleston 2022. She became the first Hungarian to defeat a Top 10 opponent since Timea Babos upset CoCo Vandeweghe in the 2018 Australian Open first round.
“I knew I had to bring my A game, which I think I did today,” Bondar said in her on-court interview. “I played against her three times last year, so I knew what to expect. I think the conditions fit my game here really well — I like to use my heavy forehand, so I think that was one of the keys today.”
Laura becomes youngest to reach third round at WTA 1000 level
Elsewhere, Czech wild card Laura Samson became the first player born in 2008 or later to reach the third round at WTA 1000 level or above. The 18-year-old defeated No. 28 seed Wang Xinyu 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 to notch her first win over a Top 40 opponent, and will face Bondar in the third round. Ranked No. 171, Samson, who also reached the 2024 Prague semifinals on her WTA debut, is the third-highest ranked player in her age group behind Lilli Tagger and Emerson Jones.
Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian is proving to be one of the hardest players to put away in 2026. The No. 29 seed came from 6-3, 4-2 down to escape lucky loser Yuliia Starodubtseva 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in 3 hours and 6 minutes, saving three match points as Starodubtseva served at 6-5 in the second set. Her victory came despite the Ukrainian pulling off two spectacular hot shots from defensive positions in the first two sets.
Cristian becomes the first player to win from match point down three times at tour level in 2026. She previously saved three to defeat Maya Joint 0-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the Indian Wells second round, and four last week in Rouen against Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah for a 2-6, 7-6(6), 7-5 victory.
Just behind Cristian, Magdalena Frech, Victoria Mboko and Yuan Yue have all posted two tour-level wins from match point down each so far this season.