Aryna Sabalenka warns Iga Swiatek directly she's coming for 'revenge' in Madrid final

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Aryna Sabalenka has made it pretty clear that she is very determined to "get this revenge" against Iga Swiatek in the Madrid final. On Friday, second-seeded Sabalenka ousted world No 9 Maria Sakkari 6-4 6-1 to set up a Madrid final against top-seeded Swiatek.

Two weeks ago, Swiatek dismantled Sabalenka in the Stuttgart final 6-3 6-4. Sabalenka owns an 8-1 record on clay so far this year and she is now determined to beat the only player who has managed to beat her on the dirt since the start of the clay season.

‘'I want to play Swiatek. It's always great battles with her, tough matches and I like to be in a battle. And I want to get this revenge," Sabalenka told Prime Video, per the Bellingham Herald.

Sabalenka aims to get her revenge against Swiatek

Sabalenka has been pretty clinical in Madrid as she won four of her five matches in straight sets.

Against Sakkari - who is a top-10 player and one of the best in the game - Sabalenka delivered her best performance of the tournament. "It's just a magical season so far, and hopefully I can keep going this way. I think one of the keys for today's match was my mental preparation.

I knew that she [Sakkari] was going to fight for every point and I knew that it was going to be tough. Every time she was making these crazy shots I was telling myself 'that's ok, it's semi-finals, it should be like that, just keep fighting'[For now] I'm going to focus on the final, and after the final I'm going to celebrate my birthday [which falls on May 5], and hopefully something else," Sabalenka said.

When Swiatek and Sabalenka meet in Madrid, it will be their eighth meeting. Swiatek leads the head-to-head 5-2. Also, it should be noted that Swiatek has won each of her three meetings on clay against Sabalenka.