Aryna Sabalenka avenged her Australian Open loss to Madison Keys on Friday, thrashing the American 6-0, 6-1 to book an Indian Wells title showdown with teen sensation Mirra Andreeva.
Red-hot Russian 17-year-old Andreeva showed plenty of poise in a 7-6 (7/1), 1-6, 6-3 victory over defending champion Iga Swiatek, ending the second-ranked Pole's bid to become the first woman to win three titles in the California desert.
"I was hungry," said Sabalenka, who had made no bones about wanting revenge after Keys denied her bid for a third straight Australian Open title in January.
"That Australian Open match was really heartbroken for me, and I really needed some time to recover after that.
"And if I would lose today again, it would get in my head and I didn't want that to happen. I was really focused – I was just really hungry to get this win against Madison."
Keys, who was riding a 16-match winning streak, couldn't get a foot in the door.
Sabalenka was untroubled by the cold, swirling wind on Stadium Court as she won the first 11 games.
"I think tactically I played really great tennis," said Sabalenka, adding her strategy was to "just keep her out of the rhythm".
The misfiring Keys finally held serve for 5-1 in the second, but minutes later Sabalenka sealed the win and lined up a shot at the WTA tour's newest sensation Mira Andreeva in what 26-year-old Sabalenka quipped would be "kind of like an old mama playing against a kid".
Andreeva beat Iga Swiatek for the second time in as many tournaments, having stunned the Polish star in the quarterfinals at Dubai last month on the way to becoming the youngest ever WTA 1000 champion.
Swiatek, who hadn't dropped a set in winning 10 straight Indian Wells matches, looked supremely confident as she dropped just one point in her first three service games.
Aryna Sabalenka on facing Mirra Andreeva in the Indian Wells Final:
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) March 15, 2025
“It feels like an old mama playing against a kid. Oh my God. I’m 9 years older than her.” 😂😂😂😂
pic.twitter.com/5Nl81aa2DV
But it was Andreeva who claimed the first break of the tense first set for a 5-4 lead.
SUPER COMFORTABLE
After Swiatek broke back and they reached the tiebreaker, Andreeva seized control, opening with a blistering backhand winner and pocketing the set on her first opportunity as Swiatek sent a backhand wide.
"I felt like I'm gonna go and play the tiebreak like it's the last tiebreak of my life," she said. "So I just went for all my shots. My serve was great. I just felt super comfortable and confident," she said.
Swiatek put her frustrations aside and broke Andreeva to open the second set, breaking her twice more as the Russian's errors multiplied under pressure from her opponent.
Aryna Sabalenka after beating Madison Keys 6-0 6-1 at Indian Wells
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) March 15, 2025
“I didn’t expect this match to be that fast. I’m super happy with how I played. Much needed revenge.”
pic.twitter.com/h6czfpXjKr
"The second set, it was a bit weird," Andreeva said. "I just felt like she literally overplayed me, because she was playing pretty deep with good height over the net. It was really hard to do something with these shots."
The roles reversed again, however, when Andreeva stepped up her attack and broke Swiatek to open the third, and she sealed the win with her third break of the set.
"I just decided to kind of still play the same but maybe go for my shots more, trying to play a little bit more aggressive," she said.
"I feel also that I was dealing with the nerves and the pressure pretty good, so I just feel proud of myself."