Baptiste's variety drags Sabalenka out of comfort zone in Madrid shock

MADRID: Hailey Baptiste offered a glimpse of how Aryna Sabalenka can be unsettled on clay after mixing forays to the net with changes ​of pace to save six match points and prevail over ‌the world number one in their Madrid Open quarter-final on Tuesday.

Baptiste’s 2-6 6-2 7-6(6) victory ended Sabalenka’s 15-match winning streak, as the 24-year-old American’s inventive tennis under extreme pressure, most ​notably her serve-and-volley approach, dragged her opponent out of her comfort ​zone.

With the French Open starting on May 24, Baptiste gave four-times ⁠Grand slam champion Sabalenka’s prospective opponents a reminder that variety often disrupts ​raw power on the sport’s slowest surface.

“I played her a few weeks ago (in ​Miami) and it was a close match … I had a better idea of how to play her and adjustments I needed to make,” Baptiste said.

While that clash shaped ​her thinking, Baptiste said her decisions in crucial moments on Tuesday were ​made purely on instinct.

“The plan comes to my head when I get to the line,” ‌Baptiste ⁠added.

“That’s what my brain was telling me to do … And it worked. It doesn’t always, but in that moment it did.

“It was an uncomfortable situation for her, me serving and volleying, hitting a drop shot in one ​of the match ​points. It’s not ⁠the easiest position to put her in, which is the plan.”

Sabalenka, who will continue her preparations in Rome to ​improve on last year’s runner-up finish at Roland Garros, ​was gracious ⁠in defeat.

“She played really brave tennis on those match points,” the 27-year-old Belarusian added.

“In Miami I didn’t give her much opportunities … Here, in the first game of ⁠the ​second set I just double-faulted twice out ​of nowhere.

“That gave her belief. She started playing aggressively … what can I say? Well done.”

Baptiste takes ​on Mirra Andreeva next.