Aryna Sabalenka earned sweet revenge at Indian Wells as she thrashed Madison Keys 6-0 6-1 in a rematch of the Australian Open final.
The world number one suffered a tough loss in her bid to win a third Australian Open title in January when she lost to Madison Keys in the final.
However, Sabalenka was determined to right the wrongs in California as thrashed the American to book her place in a second Indian Wells final.
Speaking after the match Sabalenka admitted she was motivated by revenge and described her defeat at the Australian Open as ‘heartbreaking,’ “Well, I needed this revenge badly,” Sabalenka told the WTA website.
“So I was really focused, and I think tactically I played really great tennis. I would say that today was a bit opposite. Like I played great at the beginning, and she kind of lost her rhythm and she couldn’t play her best tennis. I think that’s why the match went so fast. So at the Australian Open, I played really bad and she played great. It’s tennis.
“That Australian Open match was really heartbreaking for me and I really needed some time to recover after that. And if I would lose today again, it would get in my head and I didn’t want that to happen. I was really focused, so I was just really hungry to get this win against Madison.”
Now Sabalenka will look to win a first Indian Wells title when she takes on 17 year-old superstar Mirra Andreeva.
Having ended Keys’ 16 match winning streak, Sabalenka will be determined to end Andreeva’s 11 match winning streak in the final.
Andreeva knocked out two-time defending champion Iga Swiatek in three sets in the semi-finals to reach her second consecutive WTA 1000 final.
Heading into Sunday’s final, Sabalenka currently leads the head-to-head 4-1 with the world number one beating her younger opponent twice in Australia earlier this year.
