Photo Source: Tony Chang Photography
Indian Wells, California – When Aryna Sabalenka talks about getting revenge, she isn’t messing around.
The World No.1 served a heaping of it to Madison Keys in a rematch of January’s Australian Open final on Friday night at Indian Wells, the Belarusian racing through the contest to snap Keys’ 16-match winning streak with a 6-0, 6-1 victory.
Sabalenka reached her second BNP Paribas Open final and will face Mirra Andreeva, who took out Iga Swiatek in Friday’s first semifinal, in Sunday’s women’s singles final in the California desert. It was a pitch-perfect performance from Sabalenka, who manage the conditions exceptionally well, kept the ball in the court without fail and let Keys hurt herself over the course of the 51-minute encounter.
“I was thinking, yeah, I wish I would have played like that in Australia,” a smiling Sabalenka told reporters after reaching her second Indian Wells final in two years.
Keys seemed to run out of the positive juju that had taken her through title runs in Adelaide and the Australian Open, and put her two wins from becoming the first American woman to triumph at Indian Wells since Serena Williams in 2001.
She never reined in her groundstrokes, particularly from the side of the court behind the wind, as she consistently fired unforced errors well long of the baseline.
Keys dropped the opening set in 24 minutes, and had a small glimmer of hope in the first game of the second set when she earned a break point. It disappeared quickly and the rout continued, as Sabalenka kept pouring on the pressure.
“I needed this revenge badly, so I was really focused, and I think tactically I played really great tennis,” Sabalenka said. “I would say that today was a bit opposite [than their Australian Open final]. I played great at the beginning, and she kind of lost her rhythm and she couldn't play her best tennis. I think that's why the match went so fast.”
Keys lost the first 11 games but finally got on the board with an ace to avoid the double bagel. She raised her arms aloft as the crowd cheered in appreciation for the 2025 Australian Open champ.
Sabalenka will face Andreeva for the sixth time in Sunday’s final. She owns the 4-1 head-to-head lead against the 17-year-old Russian, and has already defeated her twice in two meetings in 2025.
“It's just so awkward for me to think that I'm 26 and 27 this year, and she's 17 and is, like, just two years older than my sister,” Sabalenka told reporters.