For the third time in four years, World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka will compete for the Indian Wells title. Holding off No. 14 seed Linda Noskova 6-3, 6-4, Sabalenka booked her spot in the BNP Paribas Open final and is now one win away from her 23rd singles title on the WTA Tour.
Sabalenka has yet to win at Tennis Paradise but will have a chance against Elena Rybakina, who defeated Elina Svitolina in the second semifinal. Rybakina, who edged out Sabalenka in the recent Australian Open final, defeated her in the 2023 Indian Wells final. Sabalenka fell to Mirra Andreeva in last year’s title match.
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Sabalenka’s now the first World No. 1 in the WTA Rankings to reach the final in consecutive years since the tournament’s inception in 1989 and joins Victoria Azarenka as the only two active players to reach the Indian Wells final three separate times.
I just want to focus, says Sabalenka
“I just want to focus, if I make it to the final, I want to make sure that I get it, I get the trophy,” Sabalenka said to press afterwards. “I’m so done of losing these big finals. It felt like even though players were playing incredible tennis in those finals, I feel like I had so many opportunities that I didn’t use.
“Right now my mentality, if I make it to the final, I’ll go out there and, you know, I’ll do everything I can and everything I cannot to get that trophy.”
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On Friday, Sabalenka’s strength and power overwhelmed Noskova, and with much higher temperatures, the court played much faster than in previous rounds, a factor that heavily played to Sabalenka’s advantage. Sabalenka’s service strategy to push Noskova wide with a large kick, complemented with her 11 aces and 37 winners, both were the most she had in a single match all season, outmatched the Czech.
The four-time Grand Slam champion now improves to 7-1 against top 20 players this season, with the lone defeat coming to Rybakina in Melbourne.
Sunday’s final will mark Sabalenka’s 43rd at the tour-level, and she’s now reached three consecutive finals at the Sunshine Double (Indian Wells and Miami), joining Monica Seles and Steffi Graf.
Rybakina adds another milestone
There are few words left to describe Elena Rybakina’s run dating back to last fall’s Asian swing. Since October, she has collected titles at the WTA Finals and the Australian Open, and on Friday night added another milestone by reaching her second Indian Wells final with a 7-5, 6-4 win over World No. 9 Elina Svitolina in 1 hour and 46 minutes.
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It marked her 12th straight victory over Top 10 opponents, a streak that began last October in Ningbo, where she also lifted the trophy. She’ll now have a chance to push that number to 13 when she faces Sabalenka in Saturday’s final.
Rybakina trails Sabalenka 7-8 at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level but has won their last two meetings, both in finals, in Riyadh and Melbourne.
If her form against Svitolina, and throughout the week for that matter, is any indication, the 2023 BNP Paribas Open champion will have a strong chance to claim her second title in the desert later this weekend.
