The first time Aryna Sabalenka faced championship point this past Saturday in Madrid, deep into a third-set tiebreak, she stared across the net at Iga Swiatek and crushed an ace. For over three hours, the top two women's players in the world threw their best at each other until Swiatek finally outlasted Sabalenka, avenged her loss at last year's Madrid final, and won, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(7). The match was this season's first edition of what has become the best rivalry in the WTA. At three hours, 11 minutes, the final was the longest of their 10 career meetings, but neither was willing to wait for the other to fizzle out. Both Swiatek and Sabalenka prefer to be the aggressor, though each does so with a different approach, so this dynamic can only be resolved when one of them destroys the other with even bigger shots.

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