Sabalenka, who has played the last three finals of the WTA 1000 tournament, equalled Petra Kvitova's record haul of three Madrid Open titles. She also caught up with Gauff in head-to-head, with five wins apiece after 10 meetings.

"I always enjoy fighting against you, you're such a fighter," Sabalenka told Gauff at the presentation ceremony after she won her sixth straight match against top-10 ranked opponents this year without dropping a set.
"I'm super happy I was able to win this year."

A dominant Sabalenka won four games straight without conceding a point to build a 4-1 lead in the first set. Although former United States Open champion Gauff battled back with a break to make it 4-2, the Belarusian secured the set with another break.

Gauff broke Sabalenka to go 2-1 up in the second set and held under pressure to build a 5-3 lead. But Gauff's double faults while serving for the set allowed Sabalenka to break back and make it 5-5 before winning the title in a tiebreak.

--Reuters--