Aryna Sabalenka avenged her Australian Open final loss by beating Elena Rybakina in Sunday’s Indian Wells final.
Sabalenka, the world number one, saved a championship point before defeating Rybakina 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 in California.
This was an important victory for the Belarusian, as she had lost her last four WTA finals against the Kazakh star.
Is Aryna Sabalenka vs Elena Rybakina the best rivalry in women’s tennis right now?
If not, who is?
Following Sunday’s triumph, the 27-year-old has admitted that she ‘loves’ playing Rybakina in WTA finals, despite her previous struggles.
Aryna Sabalenka loves playing Elena Rybakina in WTA Finals because it’s always a ‘fight’
“I’m super happy that I can close this trip with a trophy,” Sabalenka told the WTA Tour, as reported by TennisONE.
“It’s definitely gonna stay in my memory forever and probably one of, I don’t know, one of the coolest couple of weeks that I had in my life.
“I’m super happy with the win, especially after Australian Open.
“I really love playing finals against her because it always means that it’s going to be a fight, it’s going to be a battle, and it’s going to be tough for each of us. We have to really pull out the great tennis to get the win.
“That’s the beauty of our rivalry and I’m really enjoying it and even though I lost so many really painful finals against her, but still I managed to win so many, and yeah, I’m happy to have this kind of rivalry.”
Sabalenka will now turn her attention to the Miami Open – a tournament she won in 2025.
Last year, Sabalenka defeated Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 to win the Miami Open title.
If Sabalenka were to defend her title in Florida, she would become the first WTA singles player to complete the ‘Sunshine Double’ since Iga Swiatek in 2022.
Aryna Sabalenka or Iga Swiatek… who do you prefer? 🤔
Elena Rybakina reacts to losing the Indian Wells final
In another interview with the WTA Tour – as relayed by TennisONE – Elena Rybakina offered her take on the final, calling the result ‘bitter.’
“It’s a bitter loss of course. I had opportunities, and in the second set it was really difficult for me to bring this extra energy.
“First set I played really well which I’m happy with.
“It’s been a great couple of weeks, nothing easy… but I think the most important is to take positives and move on for the next tournament.”
Rybakina has achieved the world number two ranking for the first time in her career following her exploits in Indian Wells.
The Kazakhstani player could strengthen her ranking further in Miami: she lost her opening match in the second round last year, meaning she could earn up to 965 ranking points at this year’s event.
