Week in Review: Top two players dominate and a memorable breakthrough

The Insider Wrap is a recap of everything you need to know from the week (or two) that was. Last week, Aryna Sabalenka

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Performance of the Week: Aryna Sabalenka

It has been a banner year for Aryna Sabalenka

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The continuing evolution of Aryna Sabalenka

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However, the World No.2 Sabalenka faced a major stumbling block as she moved into the thick of the clay-court season. In her first three meetings against top-ranked Iga Swiatek

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But as she has done all season, Sabalenka checked off another milestone. She defeated Swiatek for the first time on clay, prevailing in the WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open final to win that title for the second time in three years.

Champions Corner: How previous losses to Swiatek helped motivate Sabalenka

"To have this win, especially on clay, that's something unbelievable," Sabalenka said after her 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win. "I'm really happy that I'm able to fight against her and I'm able to get these wins -- so it's not like so super boring for people to watch our matches." 

Breakthrough of the Week: Mirra Andreeva

Mirra Andreeva

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Andreeva beat No.19th-ranked Magda Linette

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"Here almost every day I see Andy Murray, Daniil Medvedev and all the players from home," Andreeva said. "They say hi to me and I'm like, 'Wow, how come they know me?' So, yes, it's pretty great."

Five quick hits with Mirra Andreeva

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Andreeva's Madrid run ended with a respectable loss to eventual champion Sabalenka, and she is now inside the Top 150 of the singles rankings.

Honor Roll

Maria Sakkari

View Profile : The Greek player posted another WTA 1000 semifinal result in Madrid after also reaching the final four in Indian Wells this year. Sakkari fended off 31 of 40 break points in her first four matches of the week.

Veronika Kudermetova

View Profile : The World No.12 notched multiple Top 10 wins at a single event for the first time in her career, beating No.8 Daria Kasatkina

View Profile (saving match points) and No.3 Jessica Pegula

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Irina-Camelia Begu

View Profile : The Romanian reached the Madrid quarterfinals for the third time (2015 and 2016). Begu has amassed 106 tour-level match-wins on clay during her career -- the fourth-highest total on this surface among the current Top 100.

Victoria Azarenka

View Profile and Beatriz Haddad Maia

View Profile : In their first time teaming up as doubles partners, Azarenka and Haddad Maia swept to the Madrid title, ending the fortnight with a dominant victory over No.1 seeds Coco Gauff

View Profile and Jessica Pegula

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Sloane Stephens and Sorana Cirstea

View Profile : At last week's WTA 125 events, 2017 US Open champion Stephens took the title in Saint Malo, while Cirstea added to her strong season (Top 20 in the Race to the WTA Finals) by saving championship points on her way to the Reus title.

Notable Numbers

3: Following Swiatek and Sabalenka's finals in Stuttgart and Madrid, this is just the third time in the past 40 years that the World No.1 and No.2 have met multiple times on clay in a single season. In the past four decades, this also happened in 1984 (Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert at Amelia Island and Roland Garros) and 2013 (Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova in Madrid and Roland Garros).

29:  Aryna Sabalenka

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View Profile and Jessica Pegula

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8: Iga Swiatek

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Photo of the Week

World No.1 Iga Swiatek

View Profile suffered a rare defeat on clay in the Madrid final -- only her second loss on the surface since 2021 -- but even at a tournament where things didn't go exactly as she hoped, her shot-making in full flight provided some incredible images, like the one below.

'No regrets': Swiatek maintains motivation after Madrid final

Next Up

After a one-day breather on Monday, the WTA 1000 clay-court circuit will continue unabated when the Internazionali BNL d'Italia starts on Tuesday in Rome.

Rome 2023: Dates, draws, prize money and everything you need to know

Swiatek will try to rebound from her Madrid defeat as she eyes a third straight title, while Sabalenka will attempt to keep her winning streak going as she seeks her first trip to the final.

Rome draw: Two-time defending champion Swiatek leads field

Eighteen of the world's Top 20 players will take to the courts in the Italian capital over the next two weeks.