Queen Clutch Sabalenka saves match point, beats Rybakina to win IW Classic title – Tennis Now
By Richard Pagliaro Sunday, March 15, 2026
Image source: BNP Paribas Open Facebook
Indian Wells – Sunshine Alina Sabalenka Her face was like sharp stone, and her head was covered in spiked scar tissue from pressure.
Staring at the old enemy Elena Rybakina– After winning the title – Sabalenka narrowed her eyes and made history with one final word.
Sabalenka hit a backhand slam to save the championship point and tie the score at 6.
Then the world No. 1’s final serve boomed. Sabalenka dynamite detonated this desert duel, defeating Rybakina 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6). Sabalenka won her first BNP Paribas Open title in classic fashion while cementing her status as the top decider in the history of the Open era.
It all gave Sabalenka her 23rd career title, her 20th on hard courts, and ended a four-game losing streak that began with her loss to Rybakina in the Australian Open final.
“Thank God I got this trophy,” Sabalenka said, smiling in the afterglow. “What a week. Got a puppy, got engaged and won a championship.
“I will remember it for the rest of my life.”
It was 2 hours and 31 minutes of desert drama, a nail-biting rematch of the 2023 Indian Wells final and the 2026 Australian Open final, both won by the determined Rybakina, the better big-match player of the formidable pair of finishers.
In the end, it was like a tennis twist in Thelma and Louise: Rather than pushing each other off a cliff, the two champions brought the fans at Arena One to the emotional edge and then pumped them into a state of insanity.
“It was super hot. I was dying in the tiebreaker, but I also saw that she wasn’t feeling her best either,” Sabalenka said. “So I tried to push myself to the limit.
“I’m really happy that in the last three points of the match I was able to play some really good tennis and get the win.”
Rybakina, who missed match point, said Sabalenka brought a slightly stronger energy level at crucial moments, which made all the difference.
“So we’re all trying to change some things, and in the big moments I think the difference is extra energy, extra push, and for me I got a match point and she came back well, so it’s hard to say,” Rybakina said. “But from my perspective I can say I should have done better in the second set and maybe find that energy somehow, or I don’t know.
“But I can say I did everything possible, but if you have that little gap and I have a match point, then I can do better in the end.”
Known as a powerful No. 1 seed who can erupt into road rage when things get tough — the top seed enters Arena 1 today with a 22-20 Finals record — Sabalenka showed why she’s a deserving No. 1. At the Australian Open, Sabalenka defeated Victoria Mboko 6-1, 7-6(1) to win her Open era record of 20 consecutive Grand Slam tiebreakers, breaking Novak’s record and Djokovic’s record. She remains undefeated in deciders in 2026, with her last tiebreaker defeat coming to Rybakina in the WTA Finals title match.
In the final, Sabalenka failed to win the serve at 5-4, but she got 5 break points in the 11th game and was only one point away from defending the championship again.
Pulling on her vanilla mask, Rybakina went into full warrior mode. In a Samprasian serving performance, Rybakina saved five break points in the 11th game, including a service winner on the fourth break point to hold on for a heartbreaking 6-5 victory.
Sabalenka spent the next 15 minutes pounding down love holds on a wild ride to force a final tiebreaker – she was probably wondering where the hell they were when I served at 5-4 – and worked her way to a 5-4 lead in the tiebreaker.
A dizzying dramatic escalation: Rybakina hit a backhand to take the championship point at 6-5.
The most critical time of the day brings most people to their knees.
Sabalenka rose, pounded her backhand with all her raw power, twisted the championship point into the declaring tee shot with a shout, then flashed back to Melbourne.
“I saw that match point of hers at the Australian Open, I don’t know how many times it came up in front of me,” Sabalenka said. “I remember, okay, I was standing there thinking, okay, I’ve got to cover a wide serve, and I left it to her to serve or whatever.
“I was so lucky, she served again and I covered that side. No matter how fast the serve was, I knew I could block it and I could return it. So I was very lucky at that point. I hit two really good shots and I felt like that moment gave me so much, I don’t know, so much mental strength.
“Yeah, I’m lucky. I’m lucky in some ways and then unlucky in some ways, so I guess it all balances out.”
Two points later, Sabalenka was screaming her serve from the T-stage, capping off the best match of the year – and the final Classic at Indian Wells – and Sabalenka’s second title of the year.
Tennis’ undisputed tie-breaker ruler is officially the Queen of the Desert.
Sabalenka has dropped just one set in six matches in her bid for the title and is ecstatic about her gutsy comeback at the annual WTA tournament.
Today, Sabalenka danced on the edge of defeat and successfully lifted the championship trophy on a high stage.
It was a role-reversal final: Rybakina stopped Sabalenka four times in five final encounters, including the WTA Finals and the Australian Open title match on January 31.
After five games of decline, Rybakina has scored six stunning results in his last seven games World No. 1 Sabalenka Six weeks ago, she made a strong comeback with a score of 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to win her first Australian Open title.
Sabalenka, 27, even kicked off the event by wearing a huge engagement stone on her ring finger after her boyfriend Georgios Frangulis proposed.
Trailing in championship points today, Sabalenka, an icy rock star commanding the second-largest stage in American tennis, is confident she will improve her season record to 17-1, including 8-1 against top-20 opponents.
Think Rybakina. Rybakina took control of the situation in the late stages, hitting more winners (42 to 29), winning more break points (9 to 8), and scoring an impressive 70% of her second serve points, but Sabalenka has won this title more times than Rybakina has lost.
“I think I was fighting more with myself, with the sun and with the energy levels,” said Rybakina, who sometimes glanced at the blinding sunlight as if longing for the roof of Rod Laver Arena. “But if it’s a first serve or a kick, her serve is definitely not easy to return.
“But in these games you need to have energy, you need to move well because she plays so fast.”
Keep in mind, all of this crazy stuff happened while the two were battling 95-degree heat that would make most mortals miserable.
But they embraced it and gave us a brilliant, thrilling final in tennis heaven.
Rybakina won the cross-court exchange from the start and decisively changed direction with a backhand line shot. Rybakina hit a backhand to the baseline before a Sabalenka error gave the Kazakh double break point. Rybakina counterattacked in the middle, locking the score of the top seed at 4-2.
Rybakina hit two aces in a row to confirm the break and lead 5-2.
In the service game, Rybakina fought back when Love-30 fell behind. Her fourth ace hit the T, giving her set point.
Rybakina took a strong first set in 30 minutes when Sabalenka hit a backhand shot over the baseline.
Third-seeded Rybakina won 20 of her 25 points on serve and defeated the world No. 1 on a cross-court forehand to take control of the first set.
Surprisingly, Rybakina chose to take a bathroom break and slow down her pace after this exciting match. Afterward, Rybakina shared that the sun was slowing down her orgasm and that she needed time to calm down.
“I think the sun was quite strong and I would say it affected me a lot in the second set,” Rybakina said. “I couldn’t really push too much. I tried to give myself time.
“I also went after the first set because I needed some cool air. To be honest, I thought I played really well in the first set and I had more energy.
“The second set, it was a big slump. And then in the third set, I think it was pretty difficult for both of us. We had to give it our all and do the best we could.”
The two broke each other’s serve to open up the situation, and then Sabalenka fought back hard and saved two break points, chasing the score to 2-1 in a 4-2 match.
In the first set, Rybakina was comfortable on serve and made a double fault, giving Sabalenka her second consecutive break opportunity. Although Sabalenka didn’t use her versatility too much at this point, she did manage to tie it up to 15 points with a shot to extend her second-set lead to 4-1.
Sabalenka was under constant pressure on break points in the serve game.
Then the U.S. Open champion stared into the service box like a diva staring into her vanity mirror before taking the stage.
Commanding the court, Sabalenka produced a series of points that proved why she is ranked No. 1. A brilliant backhand line shot, a sliding ace and a screaming serve later, Sabalenka sealed the second set, slapping her racquet against her own zone and demonstrating her power.
The temperature on the court was over 94 degrees, and Sabalenka looked energetic while the Australian Open champion looked nervous.
All this is a prelude to an exciting final. At one point during the exciting final set I felt a sudden urge to suck a tank of oxygen.
If you have a real passion for tennis, treat yourself to a replay of the last set, sit back and enjoy.
In the deciding set, Sabalenka hit a backhand to break serve first, with the score 2-1. Sabalenka scored a deuce to lead 3-1.
At the time, Rybakina’s coach was wearing a white baseball cap covered with a white towel in an attempt to cool down the 95-degree heat, but the two-time major champion did not wave the white flag. Rybakina drew a line behind the baseline to make the score 2-3.
Three-time finalist Sabalenka saved two break points – a backhand winner and an ace out of bounds – to make it 5-3. Sabalenka attempted a shot, but Rybakina nailed a Martina Hingis-esque volley lob and an overhead breakaway to make it five.
This crazy, magical and seemingly pivotal Game 11 showed why WTA ace leader Rybakina (one of only two women along with Karolina Pliskova to hit more than 500 serves in a season) showed why she is the most dangerous server in the game, completely disarming the world No. 1 with a dagger serve. In a stunning serving performance, Rybakina led 6-5 when she dropped a 117mph bomb down the T-shaped track.
Therefore, recalling the defeat in Melbourne, the 5-4 failure to win the title and Rybakina’s inspiring performance, Sabalenka showed a steely spine and championship belief.
Consider that Sabalenka has beaten two former Grand Slam champions, Rybakin and Naomi Osaka, as well as Montreal champion Victoria Mboko, and I believe if she’s healthy, she will become a multiple Grand Slam champion in an exciting ride-or-die road trip.
Sabalenka plans to celebrate California style: martinis and burgers.
“I thought maybe a couple espresso martinis and five people to go,” Sabalenka said. “Basically, that’s why I’m never in good shape, because it’s five people and espresso martinis to celebrate (laughs). Yeah, I guess that’s it. Maybe a few drinks just to fuel myself.
“That’s it, because the schedule is so tight and we have the next game and I can’t relax too much because I’m the defending champion there and, well, this is Miami. I love being there and playing there, so I want to do well there as well.
“So I’m going to try to stay relaxed but focused. I guess again it’s about balancing everything, so I’m going to try to balance it out in the best way possible.”
This is the first time the Indian Wells women’s singles final has been played between two of the top three players since No. 1 Victoria Azarenka defeated No. 2 Maria Sharapova in 2012.
Tie-break queen Sabalenka, once considered a genius mind, displayed heart, brains and sheer grit on championship points and deservedly became the queen of the desert.
This rivalry will be around for a long time as it was awesome to watch two destructive hitters.
