Sabalenka sets up Andreeva showdown in Indian Wells showpiece

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."

20 - Aryna Sabalenka has registered her 20th win against a top-5 in WTA events; since her first match against a top-5 in 2018, no player has won as many matches against top-5 than Sabalenka (20 wins from 41 matches). Marching. #TennisParadise | @BNPPARIBASOPEN @WTA pic.twitter.com/qrtVkPIUvP

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) March 15, 2025

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).