World number one Aryna Sabalenka picked up her third title of the season with a win in Madrid.
The Belarusian star looked a class above in the Spanish capital, as she produced several impressive victories over her WTA rivals.
She knocked out seeded players Elise Mertens and Marta Kostyuk before Sabalenka beat Elina Svitolina to advance to the final.
There, Sabalenka took down America’s Coco Gauff in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6, joining Petra Kvitova as the only other three-time Madrid Open champion.
On top of the tennis world, Sabalenka will hold a 4,000+ point lead over her closest rival, Iga Swiatek, in the world rankings come Monday, although one former tennis star still thinks there is room for improvement.
Naomi Broady thinks Aryna Sabalenka should look to ‘improve’ her break point conversion rate
Speaking on commentary, former British star Naomi Broady analyzed the numbers from Sabalenka’s win over Gauff in Madrid.
“[Aryna] Sabalenka leading in almost every area as she was in the first set. But the uptick in aggression from [Coco] Gauff, she overtook Sabalenka in winners in the end. Hitting four more,” she said.
“The bottom left is where my eyes are drawn, though, break points won. Just four of 13 for Sabalenka.
| Aryna Sabalenka | Stats | Coco Gauff |
| 69% | 1st Serves | 55% |
| 67% | Points won on serve | 50% |
| 21 | Winners | 25 |
| 21 | Unforced errors | 33 |
| 10 | Forced errors | 27 |
| 81 | Total points won | 61 |
| 4/13 | Break points won | 2/3 |
“I think that is an area she can look to improve, specifically against Coco Gauff. She didn’t have the best of stats when she lost to Coco Gauff in Rome a couple of years ago, she took just one of five.
“A little bit better today and did enough in the end. But when you have that many chances against somebody’s serve who you know can be nervy.
“It is very easy to say from the side to try and take more of those opportunities.”
Colin Fleming weighed in, sharing his thoughts on how Sabalenka can further ‘tidy up’ her game.
“I actually don’t think she hit her own forehand particularly well today across the whole match,” he said.
“We were looking at the stats mid-match and winners and unforced errors on the forehand were not too dissimilar, but Sabalenka has the ultimate trust when it comes down to it, so she didn’t make the mistakes when it really mattered and the match was on the line.
“I think she would like to tidy that up, but that is maybe not a bigger picture thing, it is maybe specific to this match.”
The Brit commented on the area of Sabalenka’s game that has improved over recent years.
“I think it is just a case of keep going on the path she is on,” said Fleming.
“We have spoken about it pre-match about how complete she is. There is no glaring thing she needs to fix.
“I think that was the serve a couple of years ago, but she has done that. She looks so confident serving now.
“It’s not just got past hitting double faults, but even second serve, she is going, I am going to hit a big one now. She has really taken that to another level.”
Where does Aryna Sabalenka’s serve rank compared to the rest of the WTA Tour?
Once a ‘glaring’ issue in her game, Sabalenka has fixed her serve and often uses it to great effect, as she did in Saturday’s final.
In 2025, Sabalenka ranks highly compared to her biggest rivals in several serving metrics.
- 2025 Aces – 9th on WTA Tour
- 1st Serve % – 69th on WTA Tour
- 1st Serve points % – 27th on WTA Tour
- 2nd Serve % – 14th on WTA Tour
- Serve points won % – 7th on WTA Tour
- Serve games won % – 8th on WTA Tour
Her improvement can be seen clearly when comparing her 2025 statistics to her serving numbers in 2022, when the issue was most prominent.
- Aces – 6th on WTA Tour
- 1st Serve % – 207th on WTA Tour
- 1st Serve points % – 39th on WTA Tour
- 2nd Serve % – 210th on WTA Tour
- Serve points won % – 85th on WTA Tour
- Serve games won % – 80th on WTA Tour
Sabalenka and her team should receive great credit for the work they’ve done on her serve, turning one of her biggest weaknesses into a real strength.
The Belarusian will hope to keep her serving standards high as she gets set to return to action in Rome, where she lost in the final one year ago.
This year’s Italian Open is set to begin on Monday, May 5.
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