WTA Indian Wells: Sabalenka "Avenges" Rybakina, Wins Title After Three Finals Appearances

On March 16, Beijing time, the women's singles champion was decided at the 2026 WTA1000 Indian Wells tournament. Sabalenka and Rybakina delivered an exceptionally thrilling offensive battle in the women's singles final, battling for 2 hours and 31 minutes into a decisive-set tiebreak. Sabalenka ultimately secured a hard-fought victory with a score of 3-6/6-3/7-6(6), claiming her first Indian Wells title and her tenth career WTA1000 championship, thereby ending Rybakina's 12-match winning streak against top-10 players.

Rybakina once held a match point at 6-5 in the decisive-set tiebreak, and it was on her own serve. Sabalenka countered with a powerful return and saved the match point with a forceful backhand winner, then clinched the next two points to seal the victory.

Sabalenka

Sabalenka had previously reached the Indian Wells finals in 2023 and 2025, losing to Rybakina and Andreyeva respectively to finish as runner-up, and she also fell to Rybakina in this year's Australian Open women's singles final. Discussing how she overcame her "final hurdle," Sabalenka stated after the match that she has developed a strong mental resilience.

"I believe it all comes from accumulated experience. Those losses taught me: the match is never decided until the very last moment; even if your opponent has a match point, you still have a chance to win. I learned to maintain mental strength at all times. Despite experiencing so many profound and significant defeats, I can still step onto the court, stay focused under pressure, and fight wholeheartedly for victory."

(Text/Editing by Wang Fei, Image/Visual China)