Aryna Sabalenka has won the biggest title of her career since the US Open at Indian Wells.
Sabalenka beat Elena Rybakina to win Indian Wells for the first time, saving a championship point to do so.
This enabled the world number one to get revenge over Rybakina from the Australian Open final, where she was beaten for a second consecutive year.
Although Sabalenka winning big titles is nothing new, former Wimbledon semifinalist Sam Querrey believes her Indian Wells victory is a big breakthrough.
Sam Querrey praises Aryna Sabalenka for mentality in Indian Wells final
Sabalenka won the Indian Wells title on the third time of asking, having lost her two previous finals at the tournament.
When reacting to Sabalenka’s 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) victory over Rybakina when speaking on Tennis Channel, Querrey called it the best match of the year so far.
“Probably the match of the year so far,” said Querrey. “Both these women have similar games. It’s first strike tennis. Who’s gonna hit that first serve and follow it up with a big forehand or a big backhand?
“You know, no one wants to play defence out here. We saw that for both of these ladies.
“And there was a moment in this match where it looked like Rybakina was maybe gonna take it in straights, but Sabalenka did an unbelievable job of fighting back, never giving up, and in the third set, again, was up that break.
“We saw her up that break in Australia, she lost it, we thought maybe those memories gonna creep back in and sure enough, you know, she did a good job of overcoming that.”
Who will be ranked higher by the end of 2026 – Elena Rybakina or Aryna Sabalenka?
Querrey was then asked what he thinks Sabalenka will take from winning Indian Wells, as he suggested that this could be a breakthrough for her in terms of winning big finals.
“Right, look, she’s been the most consistent player of the last, I don’t know, 18 months, and she’s number one in the world, but there have been a few hiccups right, in finals,” added Querrey.
“So I think for her to get over the hump here, especially in the way she did it. Being up a break, serving for the match, not serving it out, and then coming back and getting it in a tiebreak… that’s massive for Aryna.”
Aryna Sabalenka is now the — best women’s player of all time
Where are you ranking her?
What is Aryna Sabalenka’s record in finals?
Sabalenka has now won 23 WTA titles in her career, having won 53.5% of the finals she has played in her career.
However, there has been some recent concern about her record in finals, which has been particularly prevalent in terms of Sabalenka’s Grand Slam final record.
Sabalenka has only won half of her eight major finals, which includes losing three of her last four.
The Belarusian does not have this same issue in WTA 1000 finals, where she has won 10 of her 14 championship matches.
| Level of tournament | Aryna Sabalenka’s win-loss Record in finals |
| Grand Slam | 4-4 (50%) |
| WTA 1000 | 10-4 (71.4%) |
| WTA 500 | 6-7 (46.2%) |
| WTA 250 | 2-3 (40%) |
| WTA Finals | 0-2 (0%) |
| WTA Elite Trophy | 1-0 (100%) |
| Overall | 23-20 (53.5%) |
Sabalenka will look to improve this record at the Miami Open, where she won the title last year.
The 27-year-old will also look to make history and join four women who have completed the sunshine double.
After receiving a bye to the second round as the top seed, Sabalenka will play either Ann Li or a qualifier.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
