World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka delivered a thrilling performance against Russia’s Elena Rybakina in the final match of the Indian Wells 2026 event. The Belarusian who had made her debut in the tournament this season, secured her first title after a two-and-a-half hours title clash. The World No. 1 defeated Rybakina by sets of 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).
Sharing her excitement in the post-match interview, the Belarusian commented on her engagement and the good things that she had undergone in the week including her first Indian Wells title.
Sabalenka said, “What a week, getting a puppy, getting engaged and winning the title. I will definitely remember it the rest of my life.The whole point was to have A, B, C, D, E, and blah, blah, blah plans. Today, A, B and C definitely didn’t work.”
The World No. 1 says she tried her best to put on a dominant performance against Rybakina and is happy with the outcome that resulted from the finals match. She is the first top seed player to reach the Indian Wells finals match in consecutive years since 1989.
“So I had to basically run there and put as much ball back at her as possible, and when I felt more confident, I went back to my usual game which is an aggressive and dominating game. I’m super happy that I was able to progress that far and to have so many tools in my game, so that no matter what happens in the match, I’m able to still find the small things that are going to help me to win the match,” she added.
After the semi-finals win, Rybakina, made her entry into No. 2 of the world rankings. In the final match, she entered with dominant gameplay and defeated Sabalenka in the first set by 6-3. In the second set, while the Russian tried to break into the first set, Sabalenka was ready enough to win the next set by 6-3.
With both winning one set each, Sabalenka stormed into the third set at 5-3. But Rybakina striked back to win three straight games but Sabalenka held her serve to take the match into the tiebreaker which she won through her backhand after Rybakina’s serve went long.
Faced by the defeat this time, the reigning Australia Open champion Rybakina credits Sabalenka on the win and will take the learning forward as she next plays the Miami Open 2026 on Thursday, March 19 in the Round of 64.
“Congratulations to Aryna and her team. Hopefully we will play again very soon. Not the result we wanted but it’s been a good couple of weeks,” Rybakina said.
