Sabalenka Secures Gritty Win Over Muchova to Start WTA Finals
Aryna Sabalenka walked into Indian Wells with old scars from this tournament on her back and a fresh target on her chest. She walked out on Monday night with something she has never had at the season finale: a winning start.
The former world No 1 ground past Karolina Muchova 7-6 (7/2), 7-5 in just under two hours, a straight-sets scoreline that barely hints at how often this opening match threatened to slip from her grasp.
Early trouble, familiar stakes
Second seed Sabalenka, beaten in the 2022 and 2025 WTA Finals title matches, knows how unforgiving this stage can be. The margins are thin, the pressure constant, and every loose game feels twice as heavy.
At 4-5 in the first set, having just surrendered her serve, the Belarusian looked briefly stranded. Muchova, with her variety and feel, had prised open the door and was serving for the set. The arena quietened; Sabalenka’s box stiffened.
Then the switch flipped.
Sabalenka stormed straight back for 5-5, ripping into returns and finally pinning Muchova behind the baseline. The break back steadied her, and when the set moved into a tie-break, the second seed took full control. She raced through it 7-2, tightening her patterns, cutting out the errors and striking cleanly through the court.
The first blow was hers.
A messy, nervy second set
The second set never settled. Both players wrestled with their serves, momentum swinging like a pendulum. Sabalenka’s power repeatedly opened up chances; Muchova’s touch and court craft kept pulling her back into rallies she had no right to win.
Sabalenka earned the right to serve for the match at 5-4, only to falter again. A fourth service break against her in the set dragged the contest back to 5-5 and revived Muchova’s hopes. For a player chasing a first ever WTA Finals title after two painful near-misses, it was the kind of moment that can stir old doubts.
Instead, Sabalenka doubled down.
She broke immediately for 6-5, stepping in on the return and refusing to let Muchova dictate with her slice and angles. Given a second chance to close, she did not blink. Serving for the match again, she kept the points short, attacked first, and sealed victory when Muchova pushed a backhand into the net.
No celebration was over the top. Just a clenched fist, a nod to her team, and the sense of a job properly done.
A different kind of Finals, a familiar ambition
This edition of the WTA Finals was supposed to unfold in Saudi Arabia, only to be moved in July to Indian Wells after US military strikes on Iran in February and the ensuing conflict in the region. The backdrop is different, the desert air cooler, but the stakes for Sabalenka remain the same.
She has four Grand Slam titles. She has been world No 1. The year-end crown is the one major piece still missing from her résumé.
Her win over Muchova opened Group 2 on Monday, ahead of third seed Mirra Andreeva’s meeting with Elina Svitolina later in the day. The field is deep, the format unforgiving, and Sabalenka knows there are no soft landings here.
But this time, unlike in 2022 and 2025, she is not starting from behind.
