Sabalenka had already reached the final of the Stuttgart tournament but lost to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek 6-3, 6-4 on April 23.
Swiatek could be her opponent again in Saturday's final in the Spanish capital: the 21-year-old Pole faces Russian Veronika Kudermetova (13th) in the second semifinal, scheduled for late evening.
Three weeks before Roland-Garros (May 28-June 11), Sabalenka, crowned for the first time in Grand Slam at the Australian Open in January, confirms her very good form in 2023: the Belarusian, who will celebrate her 25th birthday on Friday, reaches her fifth final of the season (for two titles) in seven tournaments played.
Sabalenka has already won the title in Madrid in 2021.
Premiere day for Karatsev
In the men's draw, Russia's Aslan Karatsev, ranked 121st in the world and a qualifier, qualified for his first-ever Masters 1000 semifinal on Thursday in Madrid, ending the fine run of China's Zhizhen Zhang (99th) 7-6 (7/3), 6-4.
For a place in the final, Karastev will face world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas or German Jan-Lennard Struff (65th and lucky loser), opposed in the evening.
Russia's Aslan Karatsev serves on May 4, 2023 against China's Zhizhen Zhang in the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid © PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP/Archives
Surprise semi-finalist of the Australian Open 2021 but fallen out of the Top 100, the 29-year-old Russian will return to the gates of the Top 50 thanks to his semi-final in Madrid.
In seven matches played in Madrid (two in qualifying and five in the main draw), Karatsev dropped only one set (against Medvedev).
This quarter-final was already his first in Masters 1000.
Zhang (26), who became the first Chinese player to reach the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000, thanks to two victories against players in the top 15 (Norrie and Fritz), will climb to 66th in the ATP rankings on Monday, the best of his career.
© 2023 AFP