Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina contested the match of the year so far at Indian Wells.
The pair, now ranked first and second on the WTA Tour, met for the second time this year following Rybakina’s triumph over Sabalenka in the Australian Open final.
On Sunday, Sabalenka avenged her Melbourne defeat, saving one championship point on her way to a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 victory over the Kazakh two-time Grand Slam champion.
Is Aryna Sabalenka vs Elena Rybakina the best rivalry in women’s tennis right now?
If not, who is?
Sabalenka was a worthy winner, and consequently, appears to have solved her biggest problem on the WTA Tour.
Sabalenka and Rybakina’s rivalry has blossomed into one of the very best on the WTA Tour, as demonstrated by last night’s thrilling contest.
However, coaching legend Brad Gilbert still prefers another rivalry.
Brad Gilbert prefers Coco Gauff vs Aryna Sabalenka
Mark Petchey, the coach of Emma Raducanu, began the discussion by expressing his delight at witnessing Sabalenka and Rybakina’s blossoming rivalry.
“I think they bring out the best in each other,” Petchey said on the Big T podcast. “I think when they play each other it’s actually fun to watch.
“I think there is no secret, so they know what is coming. They are trying to counter it. Therefore they can lean a little bit one way on the serve, because they know kind of where the person actually enjoys serving to them.
“I honestly think that the women’s tour at the moment has some incredible match ups. When you look at Coco vs Sabalenka.”
Brad Gilbert, the former coach of Coco Gauff, Andy Murray and Andre Agassi, revealed that he prefers the Gauff vs Sabalenka matchup over the Rybakina vs Sabalenka rivalry.
“I like to see that match-up better because there is more power vs guile, rather than power vs power,” he said.
“It’s interesting sometimes to see how a player opposite can figure things out and Coco does bring out the worst in Sabalenka sometimes, because she extends points.”
Gauff and Sabalenka have played two Grand Slam finals, with Gauff winning both. Gauff famously won the 2025 French Open final, and Sabalenka made some controversial comments after the match.
Gauff and Sabalenka have a 6-6 record. Sabalenka won their last match at the 2025 WTA Finals, 7-6, 6-2.
Coco Vandeweghe, the former world number nine, disagreed with Gilbert.
She said: “So does Iga against Sabalenka. But the reason why I think this is the best rivalry is what Petch was touching on.
“They bring out the best in each other and it’s the best player in that day, more so than when Coco faces Sabalenka and she brings out the worst in a Sabalenka or a Rybakina.”
Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka’s head-to-head record
| Tournament | Round | Winner | Score |
| French Open 2025 | Final | Coco Gauff | 6–7, 6–2, 6–4 |
| Madrid Open 2025 | Final | Aryna Sabalenka | 6–3, 7–6 |
| WTA Finals 2024 | Semi-final | Coco Gauff | 7–6, 6–3 |
| Wuhan Open 2024 | Semi-final | Aryna Sabalenka | 1–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
| Australian Open 2024 | Semi-final | Aryna Sabalenka | 7–6, 6–4 |
| US Open 2023 | Final | Coco Gauff | 2–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
| Indian Wells 2023 | Quarter-final | Aryna Sabalenka | 6–4, 6–0 |
| Toronto 2022 | Round of 16 | Coco Gauff | 7–5, 4–6, 7–6 |
| Rome 2021 | Round of 16 | Coco Gauff | 7–5, 6–3 |
| Ostrava 2020 | Round of 16 | Aryna Sabalenka | 1–6, 7–5, 7–6 |
| Lexington 2020 | Round of 16 | Coco Gauff | 7–6, 4–6, 6–4 |
Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka’s first match
At the 2020 Lexington Open in the USA, Gauff and Sabalenka played each other for the first time.
Gauff, a teenager at the time, stunned second-seeded Sabalenka 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals.
After the match, Gauff told the WTA Tour: “I think my mentality pushed me to win.
“We’re both playing good tennis, and had our ups and downs in the match. At the end of the day, it came down to a couple close points.”
Where will Coco Gauff be ranked at the end of 2026?
“It’s pretty much impossible to play your best tennis for all three hours of a match. Keeping the level high throughout was pretty tough, but that’s just tennis, playing in different conditions, and just starting back on tour.
“I’m not too upset with how I played; I’m most proud of how I handled myself, staying composed on the pressure points.”
“Everything was an ‘A’ except for my serving. I definitely served better in my first match than today, but you’re going to have good and bad days, and I like to go for my serves, so that’s the give and take.
“I think my serve today was more mental than technical. Towards the end of the match, I started serving better, and I may have been overthinking at some points.
“I can always improve, and I always believe I can improve, but this was also only the second match. I thought I would be much more nervous coming into my matches, but I actually wasn’t, and I just have this mentality to have fun and enjoy the competition.
“That’s what I’ve been doing, and I would say it’s better than I thought it would be, especially because last week, my practices weren’t so good. This is definitely a big improvement from then.
Gauff went on to reach the semi-finals before losing to eventual champion Jennifer Brady.
