Big finals don’t get much tighter, or better, than Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka's melee in Madrid

Wang Xinyu's first-ever main-draw match win at the Mutua Madrid Open was one for the record books: The 22-year-old from China saved 10 match points in her 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 win over Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova on Wednesday.

Wang, the world No. 42, trailed Tomova, ranked No. 81, 7-5, 5-2, and saved three match points—on all three, she was under the pressure of hitting a second serve—just to keep the match going. A staggering seven more followed on the Bulgarian's serve in the next game, which went to deuce 12 times. Wang needed six break points in that game, too, before getting the set back on serve.

The record for the most match points saved in a WTA main-draw match all time in not clear, but on the ATP men's circuit, Italian Adriano Pannatta famously saved an Open Era-record 11 against Australia's Kim Warwick in the first round of the Rome Masters in 1976 before going on to win the title.

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In 2024, 28 tour-level main-draw matches have seen the winner save at least one match point in her victory. In the last four seasons, WTA records cite that the most match points saved in a victory was seven, by Barbora Krejcikova in the semifinals of the Sydney International in 2022. She defeated Anett Konatveit at that tournament, 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (12).

Wang's win marked the second day in a row that a woman from China saved match point to win in Madrid. On Tuesday, Wang Xiyu (no relation) defeated Romania's Ana Bogdan 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-2, after saving a match point at 5-4 in the second set. And later Wednesday, Serbian qualifier Olga Danilovic saved four match points in a 3-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4 win over France's Clara Burel in which she trailed 6-3, 4-0.

Wang Xiyu's reward is a match with world No. 1 Iga Swiatek on Thursday, while Wang Xinyu will face No. 21 seed Caroline Garcia in the second round.

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