The world No 2, Aryna Sabalenka, denied the unseeded Egyptian Mayar Sherif the biggest victory of her career when the Belarusian came back from a set down to win their Madrid Open quarter-final 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 on Tuesday.
Sabalenka was not at her best and made 37 unforced errors in the match, but the Australian Open champion bounced back midway through the second set to win 10 games in a row and take control.
Sherif, who has won only one WTA 250 title in her career, was gifted the first game of the match, winning all her points through unforced errors from Sabalenka to break the Belarusian before building a 3-1 lead.
Sabalenka saved a set point at 5-1 but Sherif, playing in her first WTA 1000 quarter-final after beating three seeded players, served out to take the opening set.