No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka overcame a surging Mayar Sherif 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 in exactly 2 hours at the Mutua Madrid Open to reach her fifth semifinal in seven tournaments this year.

Australian Open champion Sabalenka trailed the unseeded Sherif by a set and a break, but from 2-1 down in the second set reeled off 11 of the next 12 games to improve her 2023 record to 27-4. The 2021 winner in Madrid, this result marks the second time the 24-year-old has made the last four in the Spanish capital. 

Sabalenka advances to her 15th career semifinal at WTA 1000 level or above, five of which she has converted into titles. Ten of those have been in WTA 1000 tournaments, four at Grand Slams and one at the WTA Finals. She will next face either No.9 seed Maria Sakkari or No.31 seed Irina-Camelia Begu as she bids to return to the Madrid final.

No.59-ranked Sherif, the first Egyptian ever to reach a WTA 1000 quarterfinal, is guaranteed to return to the Top 50 in next Monday's rankings after a career-best run at this level.

How Sabalenka turned it around: Sherif, who trains in Elche in southeast Spain and who has been supported by members of her club throughout her Madrid campaign, demonstrated that she is thoroughly at home on these clay courts in a flawless first set.

The 26-year-old found 10 winners, ranging from delicate drop shots to fierce forehands, and contributed only two unforced errors. Her heavy, high-bouncing rally forehand also proved a problem for Sabalenka, who committed 16 unforced errors -- including 12 off the forehand side. Four double faults, including three in the first game en route to dropping serve, did not help the Sabalenka cause either.

The first five games of the second set comprised the key sequence of the match. Twice Sherif went up a break as ill-timed double faults and netted overheads continued to plague Sabalenka. But twice Sabalenka broke back, coming out on top of a handful of superb all-court exchanges. At 2-2, the World No.2 saved a break point and posted the first hold of the set with a drop shot of her own -- and rolled from there.

Sabalenka was in full flow as she raced through 10 straight games, taking a step back to find her rhythm on Sherif's strokes rather than attempting to take them on the rise. Still able to generate phenomenal power from further back, Sabalenka tallied 27 winners in total to 37 unforced errors. She was also able to regain control of her serve impressively: having served eight double faults at 2-2 in the second set, there were no more for the rest of the match.

In Sabalenka's words: "I just couldn't adjust for her game, and I was really going crazy. I'm really happy that I was able to stop myself, to take a little breath and just like start everything from the beginning. Good that I was keep fighting for every point no matter what the second set. And then in the third set I didn't give her much chances to play her game. 

"I think I'm really mentally strong. I had so many matches like that when I was down in the score or when I was down with the match points and I was coming back."