Elena Rybakina

Elena Rybakina claimed the first WTA 1000 title of her career at the BNP Paribas Open by defeating Aryna Sabalenka for the first time in five attempts.

Rybakina held all the momentum as she powered to a 5-2 lead in the second set. Another double fault by Sabalenka gave Rybakina a set point at 6-5, but Rybakina fired a backhand long on that chance, and the duo moved into a tiebreak. Rybakina rising: Rybakina had already shown off her sterling form in the semifinals with a straight-sets dismissal of Swiatek. Rybakina is now 6-0 in tiebreaks this season. Sabalenka halted: It is only Sabalenka’s second loss of the season, as she falls to 17-2 on the year. This time around, Rybakina gritted out the first-set tiebreak, then fended off a late second-set comeback by the World No.2 to grab her first win over Sabalenka. For just the third time this century, the Australian Open finalists met again in the Indian Wells final. Sabalenka will remain at World No.2. Sabalenka went on a brief hot streak, winning eight points in a row to get to 5-4, but Rybakina conjured up another unreturned serve on her first championship point to close out the win. By defeating Sabalenka as a follow-up, Rybakina became the first player to defeat the World No.1 and World No.2 at Indian Wells in the same year. Sabalenka was aiming to become the first player to win three titles in 2023, adding to her crowns at the Australian Open and Adelaide International 1. Elena Rybakina won her first title of the season, and the first WTA 1000 title of her career, at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday.

The Spaniard re-established himself at the top with a statement victory after Elena Rybakina claimed her maiden WTA 1000 title in the women's tournament.

With the focus quickly shifting to the Miami Open, they are the three players to beat. This marks her fourth career title, her first since Wimbledon, and the Kazakh will rise to a new career high of No 7. She struck 10 double faults in the set alone, including on her set point, and Rybakina eventually remained solid enough to take advantage. On Sunday, Rybakina bolstered her status as one of the very best players in the world by winning her first WTA 1000 title in Indian Wells. His body crumbled, with abdominal and hamstring injuries forcing him to miss the ATP Finals and the Australian Open respectively. As Medvedev returned and scrambled from close to the back fence, Alcaraz took advantage of his deep court positioning by pairing his destructive, relentless shotmaking with constant forays to the net, serve and volley attempts and dropshots.

Thanasi Kokkinakis had to clarify a tweet after tennis fans overreacted to a comment about Indian Wells winner Elena Rybakina. less than 2 min read.

The Moscow-born Kazakh saved a pair of break points to push her lead to 3-1 and, with Sabalenka in survival mode, she ripped a backhand return up the line for a break that put her ahead 5-2. Unable to convert her own two set points in the decider, Sabalenka’s 10th double fault of the set gave Rybakina her sixth set point and she took it. After fending off three break points in a marathon fourth game, she broke Rybakina to gain the advantage, but Sabalenka handed back the break with a double fault to close the eighth game.

Elena Rybakina had lost four deciding sets to Aryna Sabalenka coming into championship Sunday at the BNP Paribas Open. Wanting history to avoid repeating ...

In her four previous matches in the desert, Sabalenka combined to donate 11 double faults. Though she would display tremendous tenacity by erasing five set points in total, it wasn’t enough for Sabalenka to overcome her past serving demons. In a shootout that Chanda Rubin would appropriately describe as “rapid fire tennis”, Sabalenka had the initial break before double-faulting it away in the eighth game, a narrative that would unfortunately grow for the Belarusian. "We both had chances, but in the end, it went my way," Rybakina said in press. 1 Swiatek, Elena Rybakina slays No. After sinking No.

Elena Rybakina had faced Aryna Sabalenka four times heading into Sunday's BNP Paribas Open women's final and lost each time in three sets.

Aussie repeat: Sabalenka beat Rybakina to win the Australian Open in January. It's the third time the Australian Open and BNP Paribas Open have had identical finalists in the same year. After an impressive exchange, a forehand by Sabalenka sails long and she takes the first set. 2 seed Sabalenka was immediately broken to start the second set and that set the stage for Rybakina. I was just all over the place, and I was just trying to bring myself back on court and keep fighting. She lost for just the second time in 19 matches this year.

Elena Rybakina defeated world number two Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets to claim the BNP Paribas Open title.

"This tiebreak was really epic, I would say, with all these double faults and nerves. Sabalenka suggested one last twist by denying Rybakina in her first opportunity to serve for the match, but the Kazakh made no mistake second time around to wrap up the second biggest win of her career. Rybakina built on her advantage by breaking Sabalenka to love in the first game of the second set, then broke again to move to the cusp of victory at 5-2.

One of the premier tennis tournaments of the calendar wrapped up on Sunday with the Indian Wells finals. In the women's final, the 10th seed Elena Rybakina ...

This was Rybakina’s fourth career title, as she previously won [Wimbledon in 2022](https://thesportingbase.com/tennis/elena-rybakina-wins-womens-final-at-wimbledon-2022/), the 2019 Bucharest Open, and the 2020 Hobart International. The Medvedev was one of four seeded players Alcaraz beat at Indian Wells. The first set tiebreak was the most intriguing part of the match as Rybakina won 13-11. Alcaraz won 59 points, while Medvedev won 38. One of the premier tennis tournaments of the calendar wrapped up on Sunday with the Indian Wells finals.