{"id":544254,"date":"2026-03-16T15:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T15:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/544254\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T15:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T15:04:10","slug":"sabalenka-wins-first-indian-wells-title-with-victory-against-rybakina-tennis-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/544254\/","title":{"rendered":"Sabalenka wins first Indian Wells title with victory against Rybakina | Tennis News"},"content":{"rendered":"

World number one\u2019s triumph against Elena Rybakina avenges her loss to the Kazakh in the 2026 Australian Open final.<\/p>\n

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World number \u200cone Aryna Sabalenka finally conquered her Indian Wells demons on Sunday, defeating Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-3, \u20607-6(6) in a breathless \u2060final to claim the desert title for the first time and secure her 23rd career crown.<\/p>\n

The victory was sweet redemption for the Belarusian, who had lost her previous two Indian \u2060Wells finals, including to Rybakina herself in 2023, and had begun the year with a defeat to the Kazakh 26-year-old in the Australian Open final in January.<\/p>\n

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A two-time Grand Slam champion, Rybakina dominated the opening exchanges \u2060of the first set, breaking Sabalenka to surge into a 4-2 lead and exploiting the Belarusian\u2019s backhand to close it out. It was the first time Sabalenka had dropped a set in the tournament.<\/p>\n

The second set began no more comfortably, with Sabalenka letting out an audible yell as Rybakina broke her in the opening game. But the four-time \u200cBelarusian Grand Slam champion dug deep, responding with a love hold to level at 1-1, and gradually turned the tide.<\/p>\n

A second break in the fourth game gave Sabalenka a commanding 4-1 lead, and although Rybakina pressed, the Belarusian\u2019s intensity proved too much as she took the set with four aces and conceded nine unforced errors to Rybakina\u2019s 13.<\/p>\n

\"ArynaSabalenka fought back from a set down to outlast Rybakina in three sets at the Indian Wells [Clive Brunskill\/Getty Images via AFP]<\/p>\n

The decider was a match in itself. Sabalenka broke early to lead 3-1, only for Rybakina to claw back, level at 5-5 and take the lead for the first time \u2060in the set. Sabalenka responded immediately to force a tiebreak, where the score \u2060reached 6-6, before she pulled clear to seal it at 8-6.<\/p>\n

With that final point, Sabalenka dropped to her knees \u2013 the relief of a champion who had waited three years and endured three finals to finally get her hands on the trophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to congratulate Elena. I \u2060know we\u2019ll face each other many more times,\u201d Sabalenka said before receiving the trophy. \u201cThanks to everyone who made this tournament possible. It is truly a tennis \u2060paradise. I\u2019m always happy to come here every year and thank God \u2060I got this trophy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The win caps an extraordinary week for the 27-year-old, who arrived in the Coachella Valley having recently got engaged to her Brazilian fianc\u00e9e, Georgios Frangulis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a dream come true. I want to thank my team for always being there, and my \u200cfianc\u00e9e \u2013 what a week! Getting a puppy, getting engaged, and winning a title. I\u2019ll remember it for the rest of my life,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

With their rivalry set to define the women\u2019s game for years to come, \u200cSabalenka \u200cnow has the edge with a 9-7 head-to-head lead. Both players are separated by one ranking place \u2013 Rybakina\u2019s run to the final will lift her to number two in next week\u2019s rankings.<\/p>\n

\"ArynaSabalenka, left, was a two-time runner-up at Indian Wells (2023, 2025) before Sunday\u2019s maiden victory against Rybakina [Robert Prange\/Getty Images]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"World number one\u2019s triumph against Elena Rybakina avenges her loss to the Kazakh in the 2026 Australian Open…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,44,588,85,747,1055,6075],"class_list":["post-544254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}