Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina will contest the final of the Indian Wells Open after outlasting their competition.
Sabalenka defeated last year’s runner-up Maria Sakkari of Greece while Wimbledon champion Rybakina defeated defending champion and world no.1 Iga Swiatek.
Up first, Belarusian Sabalenka gave Sakkari no little chance during her 6-2 6-3 but needed to overcome a late wobble to ensure a victory.
The Australian Open champion cruised through the first round after a delayed start due to a sound issue. However, her double fault issues reared their head again early in the second stanza with the set tied at 2-2.
But Sabalenka regrouped to hold for 3-2 and broke Sakkari in a lengthy deuce game for a 4-2 advantage which left the rest of the match a mere formality.
All eyes were on Swiatek and Rybakina though as the Kazakh had eliminated the Pole in Australian Open a couple of months ago.
The result was the same again as Rybakina turned in another dominant display to win 6-2 6-2, making the best player in the world look amateur during a few rallies.
A 2-0 lead to start the match signalled the things to come as Swiatek produced a double fault on set point to go a set down. Things did not get any easier for the world no1 as Rybakina raced to a 5-0 lead in the second set before the inevitable happened.
Rybakina will now look to even the score with Sabalenka in the Indian Wells Open final after losing the Australian Open title to the Belarusian a couple of months ago.
