Aryna Sabalenka matches 3 WTA legends with Australian Open-Indian Wells ‘double double’
A rampant Aryna Sabalenka joined an exclusive Indian Wells club after thrashing Madison Keys to reach her second final in Tennis Paradise.
World No 1 and top seed Sabalenka stormed into the final with an emphatic 6-0, 6-1 victory over the American, needing just 54 minutes to see off the fifth seed.
It was a rematch of the Australian Open final which the Belarusian had lost 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, and it was the first time in 2025 that world No 5 Keys had tasted defeat.
Speaking after the contest, three-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka admitted that “revenge” had been on her mind.
“I needed this revenge badly, so I was really focused,” said Sabalenka. “I think tactically, I played really great tennis.
“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.”
Sabalenka will next face ninth seed Mirra Andreeva in the final, with both women looking for their second WTA titles of 2025, and a first title in Indian Wells.
However, no matter the outcome of the final, the 26-year-old has already joined an impressive group of fellow WTA greats.
Having reached both the Australian Open and Indian Wells finals back in 2023, Sabalenka has again achieved that double in 2025.
Since Indian Wells made its WTA debut in 1989, she is just the fourth woman to reach the final of both events in multiple seasons – joining impressive company.
Monica Seles – 1991-92
The dominant force of the early 1990s on the WTA, Seles was the first person to achieve this feat, and did so in back-to-back seasons.
A 17-year-old Seles came from a set down to beat Jana Novotna 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 and lift her first Australian Open title in 1991, before falling 6-2, 7-6(8) to Martina Navratilova in the Indian Wells final.
However, she would win both events the following year, downing Mary Joe Fernandez 6-2, 6-3 in Melbourne before a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Conchita Martinez in California.
Martina Hingis – 1998, 2000, 2002
Swiss star Hingis holds a unique place in history as the only woman to reach the final of both tournaments in three separate years.
The first season she did this was in 1998, when she defeated Martinez 6-3, 6-3 in the Australian Open final before a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Lindsay Davenport in Indian Wells.
Hingis lost 6-1, 7-5 to Davenport in the 2000 Australian Open final and then lost to the American again in Indian Wells, beaten 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.
Two years later, she would miss four championship points in a 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 loss to Jennifer Capriati in Melbourne before a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Daniela Hantuchova in Tennis Paradise.
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Lindsay Davenport – 2000, 2005
No woman has reached as many Indian Wells finals as Davenport, with six such runs to her name, and the American twice reached the Australian Open final in the same year.
The former world No 1 would win both events in 2000, winning her sole Australian Open title with victory over Hingis before again beating her Swiss rival in the desert.
Five years later, Davenport lost 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 to Serena Williams in Melbourne before falling to Kim Clijsters in Indian Wells, losing 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to the Belgian.
Aryna Sabalenka – 2023, 2025
Sabalenka is now the newest member of this club – and the first woman to achieve this feat in 20 years.
The Belarusian memorably defeated Elena Rybakina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to lift her first Grand Slam title Down Under in 2023, though was then beaten 7-6(11), 6-4 by her Kazakh rival in Indian Wells.
After her defeat to Keys in Melbourne back in January, Sabalenka will hope she can now beat Andreeva and triumph in the desert for the first time.
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