March 20, (THEWILL) – Elena Rybakina pulled off a shock win over Aryna Sabalenka to claim the Indian Wells title just before midnight on Sunday.
In a closely-fought match, Rybakina secured a 7-6(11) 6-4 victory, marking her first-ever career win against Sabalenka. Despite Sabalenka’s impressive record against Rybakina, having won all four of their previous encounters, her serve proved to be her downfall, allowing Rybakina to take the win.
The match got off to a tense start, with both players coming under pressure on serve. Sabalenka was the first to break and consolidated her lead with a stronghold. However, Rybakina broke back in the eighth game, with Sabalenka’s serve issues proving costly.
The first set was eventually decided in a tiebreaker, with Sabalenka’s 10th double fault of the set handing Rybakina the advantage, which she quickly seized upon to claim the set. Rybakina continued to dominate in the second set, breaking Sabalenka at the start and never relinquishing her lead.
Her victory in the final followed a win over world number one Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals and sees her climb to number seven in the world rankings. For Sabalenka, the loss will be a disappointment after an otherwise strong season so far.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
