Swiatek vs. Sabalenka: Everything you need to know about the Madrid final

MADRID -- It will be World No.1 vs. No.2 for the second consecutive year in the Mutua Madrid Open final Saturday. As she celebrates her 101st week in the top spot, Iga Swiatek is a win away from winning her first Madrid title. Across the net is a familiar foe, Aryna Sabalenka, who has beaten the reigning World No.1 in the final for both of her Madrid titles. 

Here's what you need to know about the Madrid final:

When is the singles final? 

The singles final will be played on Saturday, May 4 at 6:30 p.m. at the Caja Magica in Madrid, Spain.

Madrid is on Central European Time (GMT +2).

What are the points and prize money at stake?

Madrid is the fifth WTA 1000 tournament of the season. By making the final, Swiatek and Sabalenka have assured themselves 650 ranking points and €512,260 in prize money. 

A win on Saturday would give the winner a total take of 1,000 points and €963,225. 

By making her second straight Madrid final, Sabalenka will leave Madrid with the No.2 ranking intact. Both Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina had a chance to overtake her this week. 

How did Swiatek and Sabalenka get here?

Swiatek has lost only one set across her five wins in Madrid. She rolled through her first three matches, beating Wang Xiyu, Sorana Cirstea and Sara Sorribes Tormo, before dropping the first set to Beatriz Haddad Maia in the quarterfinals. Swiatek has lost six games since. 

After coming back to beat Haddad Maia 4-6, 6-0, 6-2, Swiatek defeated No.18 seed Madison Keys 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinals on Thursday. 

Sabalenka came into the tournament looking to win back-to-back matches for only the second time since winning the Australian Open in January. She battled through a trio of three-set wins to open her tournament, beating Magda Linette, Robin Montgomery and Danielle Collins to make the quarterfinals. After beating Mirra Andreeva in straight sets, Sabalenka came within two points of the loss to Rybakina in the semifinals before edging the World No.4 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(5).

Since the tournament's inception, Sabalenka is just the second player to play four three-set matches to reach the final. She has dropped 60 games, the most to reach the women’s singles final in Madrid.

How do they stack up?

The match will be a rematch of last year's Madrid final. There, Sabalenka earned her first win on clay over Swiatek, winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to capture her second Madrid title. 

This will be the 10th career meeting and first of the season between Swiatek and Sabalenka. Swiatek holds the 6-3 edge in the head-to-head series. The Polish player won their most recent meeting, which came in the semifinals of the WTA Finals Cancun last fall. Needing to win the match to keep her chances of finishing the year at No.1, Swiatek won 6-3, 6-2.

Sabalenka joins Coco Gauff as the opponent Swiatek has faced the most in her career.

What milestones are at stake on Saturday?

Swiatek, 22, is bidding for her 20th career title and third of the season. For the second straight year, she is one win away from winning the one big European clay tournament that has eluded her. She is already a two-time champion at the WTA 500 in Stuttgart, WTA 1000 in Rome, and she is a three-time champion at Roland Garros.

A win would tie Swiatek with Rybakina for the most match-wins (30) and titles (3) on tour this year. She would hold three of the five WTA 1000 titles in 2024, after winning Doha and Indian Wells. 

Sabalenka, 25, is bidding to win her 15th career title and second of the season. She is looking to match Petra Kvitova as the only three-time champions in Madrid.

Sabalenka is looking to join Rybakina as the only players to have beaten Swiatek twice on clay.

What are they saying?

Swiatek: "Pretty confident. Every tournament that I play, I have a pretty good result in, so yeah, really confident and kind of happy that I can play consistently the semifinals, finals, and sometimes win.

"Yeah, it's a great place to be, honestly. I'm happy that hard work pays off. So, yeah, really confident."

Sabalenka: "I mean, it's going to be great final. We had so many great matches with Iga. Always tough battles. I'm super excited for this final. Once again, I'm going to do everything to get this win."

Swiatek: "I wouldn't say we're trying to figure [the game plan] out, because we kind of know what I should play, but sometimes it wasn't easy to implement it. So I still feel like I haven't played this match where I tactically played the best from the beginning till the end against [Sabalenka and Rybakina].

"So this is something that I want to kind of improve. So it's not like we need to change a lot, but we need to stick to the plan and I need to implement it a little bit better, I think, sometimes."

Sabalenka: "I would say [last year's final] was the best match I ever played, especially on clay court. I think the level was just super high. It was clean, it was intense, powerful game. Yeah, I think that was the best final I ever played."

Sabalenka: "When I'm working out, working out really hard and going through tough moments on the practice court or in the fitness, [I'm] always thinking I have to keep working, keep improving, keep getting better, make sure that I'm getting better and that I'm going to get closer to this No.1 position, and I'm going to put a little more pressure on top players.

"So that's always there. It's good. I like it. That's why I like you call three of us 'Big 3' because I feel like we are motivating each other and we kind of give each other a hard time and always have to keep working hard and keep searching for things."

Swiatek: "I'm happy that we can play a final against the top players because it shows consistency. For sure it's going to be a challenge, whoever it's gonna be, and a tough match. I will be ready. I will focus on myself. Yeah, we'll see."