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Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina overcame a misfiring Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets to win the Indian Wells women’s title and avenge her loss to the Belarusian in the Australian Open final.
Rybakina, playing in her first WTA 1000 final, came back from the break to take a tightly contested first set when Sabalenka, the second seed, committed 10 double faults – and the Kazakh 10th seed never trailed for the rest of the match. victory 7-6 (13-11) 6-4.
Rybakina, who beat defending champion and world No.1 Iga Swiatek to reach the final, dropped serve when Sabalenka landed a forehand lob just on the baseline for a 3-2 lead, then followed with a routine that gave the Belarusian control.
But Rybakina refused to back down and was immediately happy to keep the ship afloat before Sabalenka recovered a break with a double fault that leveled the match at 4-4 from where the duo stayed on serve to force a tiebreaker.
Despite her struggles, Sabalenka had a chance in the opener but squandered three set points while also saving five set points before finally sending a forehand long to give Rybakina control.
Rybakina opened the second set with a break before Sabalenka finally got into the game, but the Kazakh relished the opportunity and quickly sealed the deal on the first winner’s point when her opponent sent her serve back into the net.
It marked Rybakina’s first victory over Sabalenka in five career meetings, and also the first time between their young rivals that the match did not go to three sets.
Rybakina improved her match record to 16-4 on the year, while it was only Sabalenka’s second loss in the world this year.
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