Andreeva Comes Back To Defeat Sabalenka And Win Indian Wells Title
Mirra Andreeva won yet another WTA 1000 title on Sunday, coming back from a set down to defeat world number one Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to win the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
“In the second set, I tried to play a bit more aggressive,” Andreeva said of how she authored the comeback. “I didn’t try to overhit her, because I don’t think anyone can overhit Aryna, because she’s a super-powerful player. I tried to really, I don’t know, create something to make her uncomfortable, and, you know, point by point, game by game, I managed to do that.”
Andreeva, just 17-years-old, has now won 12 straight WTA 1000 matches as she was coming off of her title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. In winning on Sunday, Andreeva became the third youngest Indian Wells champion after Martina Hingis in 1998 and Serena Williams in 1999.
After dropping the opening set, Andreeva’s turnaround came when she broke for a 2-1 lead in the second set. Despite Sabalenka making headway on Andreeva’s serve, she was unable to find that break point needed to bring the set level.
It continued in the deciding set, as Andreeva broke for the 1-0 lead, despite Sabalenka finally securing a break point to bring it to 1-1, the Belarusian coughed up her serve again in the ensuing game. After breaking, Andreeva consolidated for the 3-1 lead, and never looked back.
“Honestly, was me against me,” Sabalenka said. “I made a lot of unforced errors on important points, and I just let her play a little bit better. At the beginning, everything was going quite straightforward, and then I just made a couple mistakes. She kind of like believed in herself. After that, I started playing much worse, and I was just trying to find my rhythm back but didn’t work this time.”
Andreeva will be in search of a third consecutive WTA 1000 title when the Miami Open gets underway this week.
