Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka and Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina are approaching the Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner stratosphere of tennis.
The world’s No. 1 and soon-to-be No. 2 players have dominated the WTA Tour for the past several months and played a championship final befitting their lofty status at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday in Indian Wells, Calif.
Sabalenka fended off a championship point in the third-set tiebreaker and defeated Rybakina 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) in hot, dry conditions in the California desert as they battled for 2:31.
Sabalenka avenged a three-set loss to Rybakina in the Australian Open final and improved to 9-7 in their all-time series, which includes a 2-4 ledger in WTA finals.