Tennis fans knew the women's final of Indian Wells was going to be power versus power, but what fans didn't know was who would be more consistent between Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka. The answer wasn't as clear as it seemed it would be at the beginning of the match, as Rybakina was far too much for the Belarusian.
Rybakina, who had won 11 straight matches against top 10 players entering the final, wasn't simply hitting her forehand harder; she was landing the shot. 10 percent of her forehands through most of the first set were more than 90 mph. That is immense for any player, ATP or WTA.
Sabalenka had little answer early. She seemed to know it as well. Early on, she didn't talk to her coach's box much, and didn't play with the same kind of bombast she normally does. She was oddly quiet, seemingly in awe of what the Kazakh was doing.
Aryna Sabalenka comes from behind to defeat Elena Rybakina in the final of Indian Wells
Throughout the tournament, Sabalenka, the No. 1-ranked player on the WTA tour, had dropped serve only twice. In the final, she had dropped serve twice by the time the first game was over in the second set to Rybakina, the new WTA No. 2, once the rankings are released on Monday.
After going down 0-1 after being broken, however, Sabalenka showed why she is a four-time Grand Slam winner and has reached the top of the WTA. She got an immediate break of Rybakina at love, and then, after a tense service game, was able to hold. If she was going to lose, she wasn't going to give up easily.
Both these players battle, and each knows it. The all-time head-to-head is now ..., but until Rybakina defeated Sabalenka in the final of the 2026 Australian Open, getting the Kazakh's second-straight victory in the rivalry, the two had alternated winning their previous nine meetings. The Indian Wells final wasn't ever going to be easy for either.
Sabalenka got another break of Rybakina in the fourth game of the second set, and Sabalenka appeared set to push the match to a third set. Elena Rybakina's form had dropped, and her power had diminished. Aryna Sabalenka's emotional play returned, and likely, so did her belief that she was going to win her first Indian Wells title. She won the second set 6-3.
The WTA No. 1 got an early break in the third set, and clearly just needed to hold to take the match. The narrative had undergone a somewhat shocking change from how well Elena Rybakina was playing in the first set. Like any tennis match between two great players, a feeling that the potential outcome could change at any turn was foreboding.
Sabalenka found herself serving for the match at 5-4, but Rybakina was able to convert the break points she had missed in the previous six. She pushed the match to 5-all, at which point the match was once again anyone's for the taking.
Serving to take the lead in the third, Rybakina and Sabalenka battled in one of the epic late-match games in recent memory. The game went to six deuces, each forcing the other to be uncomfortable. Finally, the Kazakh held, forcing Sabalenka to do the same. A tie-break would have been the perfect ending to such an extremely well-played match. That is what fans got.
Shockingly, Sabalenka was 26-3 in her last tie-breaks, an astonishingly successful number. Rynabkina had one of the three victories, however.
The tie-break was even through six points until Rybakina got the mini-break to lead 4-3 and on serve. She grew the lead to 5-3, until, of course, Sabalenka got the mini-break back. Serving 5-all, Rybakina got the break again and only needed to win her first service point to take the match. She couldn't.
Rybakina lost both her service points, and it was Aryba Sabalenka's turn to win the match with one serve. That she did, winning the tie-nreal 7-5. In doing so, she won her first Indian Wells title and lengthened her lead on the top WTA ranking.