Overview
- Aryna Sabalenka began her 79th straight week at world No. 1 on Monday, holding a 2,395-point lead over Elena Rybakina in the new WTA rankings.
- She skipped Stuttgart after winning Indian Wells and Miami, and she now must defend 1,000 points in Madrid, which could shrink her lead if she exits early.
- A title this year would give Sabalenka the outright Madrid records for most championships and most finals, moving past Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep.
- Rybakina, fresh off a 500-point Stuttgart win over Karolina Muchova, starts in Madrid’s bottom half with a second-round bye and says chasing No. 1 is not her goal.
- Sabalenka owns an 85% win rate in Madrid with four finals, though her most recent defeat there came in the 2024 final to Iga Swiatek in a deciding tiebreak.