Aryna Sabalenka Drops the F-Bomb While Reliving the Dramatic Indian Wells Final Against Elena Rybakina

Aryna Sabalenka beats Elena Rybakina for just the second time in a tournament final.

Aryna Sabalenka Drops the F-Bomb While Reliving the Dramatic Indian Wells Final Against Elena Rybakina

Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka (Image via X/Sebastian G., TNT Sports)

In Short
  • Aryna Sabalenka won the Indian Wells Open, defeating Elena Rybakina in a dramatic final.
  • Sabalenka expressed relief after the match, recalling her fears of losing another final.
  • She will next compete at the Miami Open, where she is the defending champion.

Aryna Sabalenka dropped the F-word while discussing how she felt during her Indian Wells Open triumph. The World No.1 had finished as runner-up twice at the California desert and was looking to continue on that track on Sunday (March 15) before defeating Kazakhstan star Elena Rybakina at the tournament.

Heading into the final, there was no clear expectation whether Sabalenka would win the title. The World No.1 had lost six championship matches since the 2025 season, and two of those losses came against Rybakina. In fact, she had beaten Rybakina just once in a final, while losing four in the process.

The 27-year-old had not dropped a set en route to the final, the same with Rybakina, who had won the Australian Open. As the match progressed, everything looked to be tilting towards a Rybakina victory. She won the first set easily, 6-3, after breaking Sabalenka twice. But Sabalenka reacted in the second set by winning 6-3.

The deciding set was a cutthroat affair as both players went all out for the win. Sabalenka could have served for the match at 5-4 but Rybakina surprisingly broke her for the third time in the match. The match went to a tiebreak and Sabalenka found her rhythm, beating the World No.2 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) after over two hours under the sizzling heat.

Sabalenka rushed and placed her head into a freezer close to the court as the heat and pressure were nearly unbearable. The Indian Wells title was her second championship of the season, and she had to do it the hard way.

Despite skipping the Middle East swing, she looked physically at her best on the court. During her post-match interactions with Tennis Channel while with the trophy, she admitted that after the first set, she was pleading with God not to lose another final:

I was like ‘ugh, f**k again’. Like I’m losing this finals, please God not this time.

Sabalenka now edges Rybakina 9-7 in their head-to-head record on tour, but Rybakina has won three of their last five meetings. The duo met at the Australian Open in January, where Rybakina produced a masterclass display, particularly in the decider after her coach Stefano Vukov had told her to increase her aggressive style.

She won the match in three sets, winning her second Grand Slam on tour and first since 2022. Rybakina is now the World No.2 following her run at Indian Wells, toppling Iga Swiatek, who is now World No.3.

Aryna Sabalenka admits she learnt from her previous final losses following Indian Wells triumph

Aryna Sabalenka defeated two Grand Slam champions to win the Indian Wells. She first defeated four-time major winner Naomi Osaka in the third round in straight sets before getting the better of Elena Rybakina. She had reached the final of the Indian Wells in 2023 but lost the title to Rybakina. In 2025, she got to the final again and this time lost to Mirra Andreeva in three sets.

Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka (Image via X/HQ Pics)

With the experiences from those losses and her three Grand Slam final losses for over one year, it was enough for the 27-year-old to change some things in her game heading into the final against Rybakina. The World No.1 revealed in the aforementioned interview that she learned to be mentally strong no matter how bad the final matches were tilting to:

So I was trying to push myself basically to the limit. I’m super happy that in those last three points of the match, I was able to pull out really great tennis and get the win. I guess it all comes with experience. With so many finals that I have lost, they also teach me a lot of things that basically the game is never done till it’s done. So if it’s a match point, you still have a chance to get back into the game. So I guess that’s something that I learned to be mentally strong no matter what.

Sabalenka will now shift her focus quickly to the Miami Open. She’s the defending champion of the tournament and will likely face Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals. The World No.1 also has a potential clash against Rybakina in the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Florida.

Also Read: What is the Prize Money for the 2026 Miami Open?