The 2026 Indian Wells women’s final will be a rematch and a grudge match between two of the strongest and fastest players on the WTA Tour: Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina.
This will also be a rematch of the 2023 BNP Paribas Open final and this year’s Australian Open final (winned by Rybakina).
Sabalenka and Rybakina both advanced in straight sets on an extremely warm but dry evening at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Friday night, a strong performance that would undoubtedly make former champion Maria Sharapova proud as she sat in her suite. The two lightning-ball forwards met for the 16th time in their careers and reached the final for the sixth time.
Sabalenka beat Linda Noskova 6-3, 6-4 in her opening match, keeping the 21-year-old world No. 14 from the Czech Republic at bay with her steady serve and her typically clinical performance under pressure.
Noskova had an easy time in the first game but started to fight back in the second. Sabalenka rose to the challenge, saving a break point to bring the score to 5-3, and ended the match on serve two games later.
Rybakina beat Elena Svitolina 7-5, 6-4 with similar results, but both sets were much closer. The two-time Grand Slam champion recovered from an early break in the first set to take the set 7-5. In the second game, she took a double-break lead, but Svitolina refused to die. The Ukrainian player saved consecutive match points and tied the score to 4-5, but Rybakina sealed the victory with her serve.
This is Rybakina’s 12th consecutive top-10 finish, having never before achieved more than four consecutive such wins in her career.
“I think I’ve always performed well against top players,” Rybakina said. “Maybe the stats are different and I’ve lost these tough games a little more before, but I think with all the years of experience I’ve gained that consistency, so hopefully I can continue that. Also, you get to know the players better, so you play the same players multiple times, so you know what to expect.”
Rybakina will know what to expect against Sabalenka, whom she has beaten in four consecutive finals and four of five finals. Meanwhile, the world number one hopes to do more with this opportunity against Rybakina.
“I’m tired of losing these important finals,” she said. “It felt like, even though the guys played incredible tennis in the final, I felt like I had a lot of opportunities that I didn’t take advantage of. Now my mentality is, if I get to the final, I’m going to go out and, you know, I’m going to do everything that I can and everything that I can’t do to get that trophy.”
