By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Sunday, March 16, 2025
Photo credit: Tony Chang/Chang Photography
One thought hounded Aryna Sabalenka’s head after her three-set loss to Mirra Andreeva in today’s Indian Wells final.
Rematch.
“Yeah. Yeah. I want the rematch already,” Sabalenka said with a smile after her 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 loss. “Maybe she made a big mistake right now, but it’s okay. I will let her enjoy the beautiful trophy.
“No, I’m kidding. I don’t want to talk like that.
“But of course next match I’m going to go out and fight even more, and I will make sure that I didn’t make the same mistake that I did today.”
Facing off for the third time this season, Sabalenka had not lost her serve against Andreeva until the third game of the second set today.
In the end, the 17-year-old Andreeva played with more variety, clarity and commitment down the stretch. Andreeva hit five more winners—29 to 24—five more aces—6 to 1—and reeled off eight of the last nine points with a shrewd blend of defensive gets and offensive strikes. Andreeva broke Sabalenka’s serve three times in the final set today.
It’s the second gut-wrenching three-set final loss for Sabalenka this season.
The US Open champion lost her Australian Open title in a three-set classic to American Madison Keys.
A ruthless Sabalenka crushed Keys winning 11 straight games in a 6-0, 6-1 semifinal trashing to reach the Indian Wells final.
After dropping the opening set, Andreeva belted a ball into the stands and was barking at her box, including her mom and coach, Wimbledon winner Conchita Martinez. Those outbursts seemed to settle the teenager.
Sabalenka said she should have managed her emotions better and channeled her anger into action in the final set.
“I was just too pissed with myself, because I think, yeah, it shouldn’t be the way I finished and I was just pissed with myself,” Sabalenka told the media in Indian Wells. “I should have just thrown that aggression on that side instead of being too much, too hard on myself.
“So I wasn’t really caring about what she was doing. I knew what she was going to do, and nothing really surprised me. It’s more just like about me controlling my anger a little bit better.”
