WTA Indian Wells: Rybakina Eliminates Svitolina, Will Face Sabalenka in Final

On March 14, Beijing time, in the second women's singles semifinal of the 2026 WTA 1000 Indian Wells tournament, Rybakina defeated ninth seed Svitolina 7-5/6-4, returning to the tournament's final after three years. This marks her sixth career WTA 1000 final and her 24th tour-level final.

Rybakina

Rybakina elevated her level after 5-5 in the first set and secured it 7-5. In the second set, she initially held a commanding 5-1 lead but was then chased by her opponent for three consecutive games. She steadied herself in her second service game to close out the match, holding serve to win 6-4 and seal the victory, improving her head-to-head record against Svitolina to 4 wins and 3 losses.

Rybakina will face world number one Sabalenka in the final, replaying this year's Australian Open women's singles final matchup, where Rybakina prevailed. In their previous 15 encounters, Sabalenka holds a slight edge with 8 wins to 7 losses. Today's temperature was notably higher than in previous rounds, making the court speed faster. This change provided some advantage to power-oriented attacking players like Sabalenka and Rybakina. According to weather forecasts, temperatures are expected to continue rising on the final day.

（Text, Editing/ Wang Fei, Image/ Visual China）