Indian Wells: Mirra Andreeva won her Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Finals round-robin group emphatically, defeating Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-0.
The third seed trailed Sabalenka 1-4 in the opening set but won 20 of the next 23 points and rode that momentum to secure the Group 2 title in 62 minutes.
“I feel like I could play another two matches. I'm so pumped up and full of energy,” said Andreeva, who gave coach Conchita Martinez ‘82% of the credit’ for a pep talk after warm-ups that she felt spurred her to victory.
Andreeva was the subject of a pre-tournament hot-mic outburst from fellow competitor Jessica Pegula. The American was heard calling Andreeva a ‘diva’ and making other comments for which she has since apologised. Since then, the 19-year-old Russian has lost just eight games across her first two round-robin matches. Her 2-0 record makes her the group winner, leaving Sabalenka and Elina Svitolina to compete for the remaining semifinal spot on Friday.
Sabalenka, who lost the No. 1 ranking to Elena Rybakina after the latter won the US Open, ending her 99-week run at the top, had opened with a straight-sets victory over Karolina Muchova and looked solid early against Andreeva. Wearing tape above her right knee, Sabalenka suddenly struggled to win points against her opponent, who won her first Grand Slam title at the French Open in June and defeated Sabalenka to win the 2025 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
The second-seeded Sabalenka will still have a chance to qualify for a fifth consecutive WTA Finals semifinal when she faces Svitolina, a former WTA Finals champion who eliminated Muchova in the first match of the afternoon.
Svitolina, the only mother in the eight-woman field, lost 6-4, 6-0 to Andreeva in her first WTA Finals match since 2019 but rebounded from losing the opening set to beat Muchova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
