![\"tennis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Pro-Player-Gear-610X150-03.jpg\")
<\/a>tennis express pro player gear<\/p>\nTwo-time finalist Sabalenka did not drop serve defeating talented Canadian Victoria Mboko 7-6(0), 6-4 charging into the BNP Paribas Open semifinals.<\/p>\n
Fending off Montreal champion Mboko and scalding 91-degree heat on Stadium 1, Sabalenka served up another authoritative performance.<\/p>\n
Sabalenka served 61 percent and saved all five break points she faced scoring her fourth consecutive straight-sets win of the tournament against a tough opponent. Sabalenka has dropped serve only once in returning to the Indian Wells semifinals.<\/p>\n
Afterward, Sabalenka embraced Mboko at net then praised her as a future major champion.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely a future star, future Grand Slam champion\u2014that\u2019s for sure\u2014 no doubt,\u201d Sabalenka said of Mboko. \u201cIncredible to see this young girl these days they go after their shots they\u2019re aggressive. It\u2019s incredible to see.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure we\u2019re gonna play many more matches in the future. Happy with the win even though a couple of things weren\u2019t working. I think she\u2019d didn\u2019t break so I\u2019m happy with, that happy with the win of course.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 10th-seeded Mboko earned three break points in a punishing third game that spanned 14 points. Each time she was tested amid break-point pressure, Sabalenka answered with authority, eventually holding for 2-1.<\/p>\n
The Sabalenka serve and forehand were key strokes today. She challenge Mboko in forehand exchanges. While the Canadian owns a fine forehand, she was sometimes a little late trying to change direction down the line and paid the price in the first-set tiebreaker.<\/p>\n
Mboko netted back-to-back forehands as Sabalenka sped to a 4-0 lead. Banging a backhand return brought Sabalenka a fistful of set points at 6-0 and she sealed the set on her first set point.<\/p>\n
Mboko missed a running forehand down the line long to face break point in the fifth game of set two.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stepping in to return, Sabalenka stroked a backhand return forcing an errant backhand reply for the first break of the day and a 3-2 second-set lead.<\/p>\n
Turning her hips and shoulders into a big backhand crosscourt, Sabalenka held for 5-3 and closed on her first match point.<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old Belarusian began this tournament announcing her engagement to boyfriend Georgios Frangulis. Sabalenka has sported an engagement rock on her ring finger and joked the weight of that diamond ring has given her heavy forehand even more force.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sabalenka, who defeated Mboko 6-1, 7-6(1) in the Australian Open fourth round before bowing to Elena Rybakina in the three-set AO final, said she\u2019s intent on collecting more glitter in the desert this weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI really consider this tournament the fifth grand slam so I\u2019d really like to get this trophy\u2014the big one,\u201d Sabalenka said. \u201d[The ring]\u00a0 that\u2019s just extra heaviness with my forehand.\u201d<\/p>\n
The owner of 22 singles championships, Sabalenka improved to 15-1 on the season. Next up for Sabalenka is a semifinal against either 14th-seeded Czech Linda Noskova or Aussie qualifier Talia Gibson for a spot in Sunday\u2019s 11 a.m. final on the line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, March 12, 2026Photo credit: BNP Paribas Open Facebook INDIAN WELLS\u2014Aryna Sabalenka started the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399467,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-532203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}