“I don’t know, I just love this court, I love the support here, I think that’s the secret,” World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka said ecstatically after clinching her third Madrid Open title on Saturday. Also, it’s her third WTA trophy of the season after she grabbed the Miami Open over than a month ago. While the three-time slam queen was busy celebrating, her opponent and arch rival, Coco Gauff, was left disappointed. Despite her best efforts and a great campaign on the clay surface in the last two weeks, that saw her beat clay specialist, Iga Swiatek, the 2023 US Open winner failed to clinch the trophy. But guess what? Gauff might be broken, but she’s not done yet.

For Gauff, this campaign was confidence-boosting in more ways than one. This season, she’s been out of form in most of the events since making it to the QF of the Australian Open in January. She faced back-to-back early round exits on her way to Madrid. But on the clay surface, she regained her form and entered the final of a WTA tournament for the first time in 2025. Despite the loss against Sabalenka, the 21-year-old embraced the outcome with a positive approach, hoping to keep getting better.

Gauff took to her X account and shared a heartfelt note while reflecting on her Madrid setback. In a post, dated May 4, she wrote, “thank you madrid❤️ not the outcome I was hoping for today but a lot to be proud of. leaving here with my head up and more motivation to work even harder to do better next time🙏🏾 #Godstiming”

This was Gauff’s 10th face-off against Sabalenka in six years. Coco Gauff came into the final with a 5-4 lead in h2h tally over Sabalenka. After the result, however, the latter has brought it to 5-5. After the match, she remarked on the World No.1’s performance saying, “I feel like she just got a lot better in everything,” reported WTA’s website on May 4. “I think she just probably is more confident, so that’s why the consistent results are happening.”

Whereas, the victory at the La Caja Magic was Sabalenka’s 31st this season. The most in singles among other WTA players in 2025. But guess what? That’s not her only accomplishment this week.

Sabalenka will also witness a huge jump in rankings when the list gets updated on Monday. Yes, she’s already ruling the list on the top spot. But now, she’s set to achieve a rare feat when it comes to ranking points.

After besting Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka receives a massive boost in WTA rankings

Following her 20th WTA singles title, Aryna Sabalenka couldn’t hold her emotions. During the post-match interview, she revealed, “I’m just super excited every time to come to Madrid to play on this beautiful court,” reported WTA’s website on May 4. “I don’t know, I just love this court, I love the support here, I think that’s the secret.”

Reflecting on her consistency, she added, “I’ve been working [my] whole life to achieve this goal, and to be on the top of the ranking, that means a lot.” She also touched upon making improvements in her performance. Especially the court coverage and overall movement. “I’m super happy that we were able to improve my game in, honestly, in everything, the movement, my touch game is much better right now. … Kind of like trying to come to the net, I’m not sure if it’s really successful so far, but I’m trying,”

With a third trophy in 2025, Sabalenka is set to reach to 11,000 ranking points in the list. On Monday, she will officially become the third female player ever to amass 11,000 ranking points. Before her, 23-time slam queen Serena Williams (2013) and former World No.1 Iga Swiatek (2024) have reached this magical figure. With this, she will also be nearly 4,000 ahead of No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the PIF WTA Rankings.

It will be intriguing to see if the Belarusian maintains this clay consistency in Rome and Roland Garros. Do you think she’s got the chance to lift her maiden French Open trophy this time? Let us know in the comments below.