Aryna Sabalenka finds her rhythm in Madrid to overcome Elise Mertens

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Aryna Sabalenka credited finding her rhythm as the reason she was able to come from a set down to defeat Elise Mertens and reach round four of the Madrid Open.

The world number one was given a scare by her former doubles partner and 28th seed before recovering to earn a 3-6 6-2 6-1 victory on the Spanish clay.

Sabalenka entered the contest with eight straight wins over Mertens to hold a 9-2 head-to-head record, while racking up 14 straight sets over the Belgian.

After winning 11 of the first 12 points, it looked like a familiar tale was on the horizon, but Mertens roared back to win six of the next seven games and took a set off Sabalenka for the first time since 2019 in Zhuhai.

However, Sabalenka rediscovered her composure and dominated proceedings to win 12 of the next 15 games and book a spot in the last 16.

Speaking on court after her victory, the three-time grand slam winner conceded she was not in full flow early in the match.

"I was trying to find the rhythm on my serve," Sabalenka said. "The moment I started focusing on the timing, on not rushing the ball, on not overhitting, things really clicked."

Data Debrief: Sabalenka joins Swiatek and Keys club

With her victory here, Sabalenka now joins a club among active WTA players that only Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys belong to.

Sabalenka now has 10 career victories over Mertens, with Swiatek (11-3 v Coco Gauff) and Keys (10-2 v Daria Kasatkina) the only other players on the Tour to have 10-plus wins over active opponents.

Additionally, since the start of the 2024 season, Sabalenka (eight) has surpassed Mirra Andreeva (seven) for the outright most wins from a set down at WTA-1000 events (completed matches).