Aryna Sabalenka avenged her Australian Open final defeat to Madison Keys in ruthless fashion, beating the fifth seed in straight sets to reach the Indian Wells showpiece. (More Tennis News)
Sabalenka ended Key's 16-match win streak with an emphatic 6-0 6-1 victory in just 51 minutes to set up a clash with 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva in the final.
A Keys double fault handed Sabalenka a 4-0 lead in the opener and the Belarusian rolled through the set with ease despite windy conditions on court.
The crowd erupted when Keys won her first game of the match to cut Sabalenka's lead to 5-1 in the second, but that would be it for the world number five.
Keys hit a backhand into the net on match point to seal a victory for Sabalenka, who improved her record against her opponent to 5-2.
"That Australian Open match was really heartbreaking for me," Sabalenka said. "And I really needed some time to recover after that.
"And if I lost again today, 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."
Data Debrief: Sensational Sabalenka shines
In her first meeting against a top 10 player this season, Sabalenka overwhelmed a misfiring Keys to play a near-perfect match to reach her second Indian Wells final.
Sabalenka struck 14 winners to her opponents' 10, while hitting 10 unforced errors to the American's 18, surging into her 10th final since the start of 2024, the most of any player over that span.
Since 1989, Sabalenka (2023, 2025) has become the fourth player to reach both the Australian Open and Indian Wells finals in multiple seasons, along with Monica Seles (1991-92), Martina Hingis (1998, 2000, 2002) and Lindsay Davenport (2000, 2005).
She also registered her 20th win against a top five player in WTA events. Since her first match against such opponents in 2018, no player has won more matches than Sabalenka (20 wins from 41 matches).
