Sabalenka grinds past Muchova
Aryna Sabalenka opened her WTA Finals campaign in Indian Wells with a 7-6 (7-2), 7-5 win over Karolina Muchova in a contest that ran six minutes short of two hours. It was never comfortable. Muchova broke for 3-2 in the first set and again at 5-4, and both times Sabalenka broke straight back. She then wasted a pair of set points before taking the tiebreak, dropping just two points.
The second set followed the same pattern. Sabalenka was twice pegged back after going a break up, but the four-time Grand Slam champion found the decisive break to lead 6-5 and closed it out on her second match point. She has lost two WTA Finals championship matches and is still chasing a first title in this event. Last year she lost the final to Elena Rybakina, who has since taken her No. 1 ranking and pulled out this week with illness and fatigue.
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Andreeva eases through, nerves and all
Mirra Andreeva made much lighter work of Group 2 rival Elina Svitolina, winning 6-4, 6-0 in 71 minutes. The 19-year-old, who won her first major at Roland-Garros this season, broke for 3-2 in the first set and never looked back. In the second she did not drop a game, although she had to save four break points while serving for the match.
Her own account was less assured than the scoreline. “I felt like my legs were shaking,” she said afterwards, admitting she felt like an elephant rather than the supersonic mover she wanted to be. The win came days after a hot-mic moment in practice, when Jessica Pegula called her a diva, and the WTA later apologised to players for the lack of notice about live microphones.
In Group 1, Coco Gauff beat Pegula in her opener on Sunday, with Linda Noskova and Marta Kostyuk also in that pool.
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