WTA Finals: Sabalenka gets off to a hard-fought start

Title favourite Aryna Sabalenka failed to fully impress in her opening match against Karolina Muchova.

Top favourite Aryna Sabalenka has begun her quest for her first WTA Finals title with a hard-fought victory. The world number two prevailed 7–6 (7–2), 7–5 in her opening Group 2 match at Indian Wells against Wimbledon finalist Karolina Muchova from the Czech Republic, though her play lacked consistency. In the group’s second match, Russia’s Mirra Andreeva went on to beat Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) 6–4, 6–0

“The title is a major goal of mine, and I’ll fight for it,” said Sabalenka after her opening victory against the tenacious Czech: “I tried to stay calm today and focus on one point at a time. I knew that Karolina could come back at any moment. That’s why it was a great start.”

Rybakina cannot defend her title

Sabalenka had suffered two more or less surprising final defeats at the season-ending tournament: in 2022 against France’s Caroline Garcia and in 2025 against Kazakhstan’s Yelena Rybakina. Rybakina, who subsequently rose to number one, is unable to defend her title due to a viral infection.

However, she will definitely retain her top spot in the world rankings beyond Indian Wells – even if Sabalenka were to win the tournament without losing a match, she would still trail Rybakina by 114 points.

Sabalenka, who had won the WTA 1000 tournament at the same venue for the first time in the spring, found herself chasing a break twice in the first set in 28-degree heat in the Californian desert and appeared visibly frustrated at times. Muchova, who had qualified for the WTA Finals for the first time, held her own.

Andrejewa prevails in two sets

Even after winning the tie-break comfortably, the 28-year-old rarely found her rhythm against Muchova, who is almost two years her senior. Both players struggled to hold their serve. Sabalenka was already leading 5–3, but allowed Muchova back into the match with a series of unforced errors. After 1 hour and 53 minutes, Sabalenka converted her second match point.

Sabalenka’s next opponent, Andreeva, had less trouble. The French Open winner prevailed against Svitolina in two sets after some initial problems. “I was so tense – I felt like I was moving like a tortoise. I’m glad I got through the match,” said the 19-year-old afterwards.

At the season-ending tournament, with a prize fund of US$10.0 million, the top two players from each of the two groups of four advance to the semi-finals following the group stage. The final of the hard-court tournament in California takes place on Sunday.

Originally, this year’s WTA Finals were due to take place in Saudi Arabia. However, after the US carried out military strikes against Iran in February, which led to war in the region, the tournament was relocated to Indian Wells in July.