Elena Rybakina shot seven aces in routing top ranked Iga Swiatek 6-2, 6-2 on Friday to advance to the Open BNP Paribas final.
Rybakina will play as the second seed Aryna Sabalenkawho defeated Maria Sakkari 6-2, 6-3, in the final on Sunday in the southern California desert.
“It’s going to be huge,” said Sabalenka, who won the doubles title in 2019. “This tournament feels like a Grand Slam. I am looking forward to holding this trophy as individual champion.”
It took Rybakina just 76 minutes to finish off Swiatek, the defending champion. He won 82% of his first serve points, while Swiatek managed just 42%. Rybakina also beat the Polish star at the Australian Open in January en route to second place.
“I didn’t expect him to play so well today,” Rybakina said. “I had nothing to lose, I just wanted to come and enjoy. I played one of the best games this year”.
Swiatek had won 10 straight matches in the desert until Rybakina’s powerful groundstrokes stopped her and forced her into unusual errors.
Swiatek double faulted to lose the first set. He then fell behind 5-0 in the second before rallying to win two games.
Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion, improved to 17-1 this year.
She leads Rybakina 4-0 in their career meetings, but all four have gone to a deciding set, including in the Down Under final.
“It was a very close game in Australia,” Rybakina said on the pitch. “If I’m going to play like I did today, I think I have every chance.”
Aryna Sabalenka celebrates winning a point against Maria Sakkari in the BNP Paribas Open semifinals on Friday.
(Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press)
Sabalenka took control against seventh-seeded Sakkari from the start. He attacked the Greek’s second serve and won 20 of 26 points. Sakkari, the runner-up in last year’s final, fell 3-5 in her career to Sabalenka.
Sakkari reached the semifinals after coming back from a set down three times and finishing 4-0 in deciding sets.
But Sabalenka was too domineering. He has won the last three games, including two service breaks, to take the first set, 6-2.
Sabalenka led 2-0 in the second before Sakkari tied it 2-2. From there, Sabalenka has won four of the last five games to close out the match in 1 1/2 hours.
“Just super happy right now,” Sabalenka said on court. “María is a great player and she knew it was going to be difficult.”
