Andreeva Wins 11 Straight Games to Rout Sabalenka as Gauff and Pegula Fight for a Semifinal Spot at Indian Wells

For a few games on Wednesday, the marquee match of the WTA Finals went the way most people expected. Then Mirra Andreeva flipped a switch, and it was never close again.

Andreeva beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-0 in 62 minutes at the season-ending championships in Indian Wells, Calif., winning the last 11 games and 45 of the final 55 points, the WTA reported ^[1]. She had trailed 4-1 in the first set ^[1]. The Independent reported that the second set handed Sabalenka her first "bagel," a 6-0 set, in more than two years ^[2].

The win sent Andreeva to the top of Group 2 with a 2-0 record and into her first WTA Finals semifinal ^[1]. According to the WTA, she is the youngest player to reach the semifinals since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009, and the fifth teenager to get there since the event adopted its round-robin format in 2003 ^[1]. She opened the week with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Elina Svitolina, making her the first player in tournament history to win a 6-0 set in each of her first two Finals matches ^[1].

Asked to grade her performance, Andreeva said, "I would give myself a good eight," the WTA reported ^[1]. The tour's own account said she turned early frustration into fuel, and the scoreboard backs that up ^[1].

Sabalenka Still Has a Path

The loss stings, but it does not end Sabalenka's week. She will face Svitolina on Friday with the second semifinal spot from Group 2 on the line, the WTA reported ^[1]. Svitolina kept her own hopes alive on Wednesday by coming back from a set down to beat Karolina Muchova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 and even her record at 1-1 ^[3]. Andreeva, already through, closes group play against Muchova, whom she leads 1-0 in tour-level meetings ^[1].

Two Americans, One Spot

Thursday belongs to the Americans. In Group 1, Linda Noskova has already clinched a semifinal berth at 2-0, while Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula are both 1-1 and Marta Kostyuk is 0-2 and eliminated, according to the WTA's preview of the day's play ^[4].

Play begins at noon Pacific time with Gauff against Kostyuk, followed by Pegula against Noskova ^[4]. The WTA reported that Pegula advances if she beats Noskova, and that she can still get in with a loss if Kostyuk upsets Gauff ^[4]. Gauff, the 2024 champion, needs to beat Kostyuk and have Noskova beat Pegula ^[4].

Neither American has had an easy road. Gauff beat Pegula in three sets earlier in the week, then fell to Noskova in straight sets in 75 minutes ^[4]. Pegula answered her opening loss on Tuesday by beating Kostyuk 6-2, 7-5, The Guardian reported ^[5]. She is chasing her third semifinal at this event, according to the WTA ^[4]. Kostyuk entered the field as a late replacement after Elena Rybakina withdrew ^[4][5].

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Why It Matters

There is something fitting about the season's final tournament landing in the California desert this year. The Indian Wells Tennis Garden is one of the most beloved venues in the American game, and the championships run there through Nov. 15, according to the WTA ^[6]. In a sport that so often plays its biggest moments overseas, American fans get a rare treat on Thursday afternoon: two of our own, on home soil, playing for a place in the final four.

What I admire about both women this week is the way they have answered setbacks. Gauff lost a straight-sets match she was expected to win and now has to win and hope. Pegula lost to her countrywoman in the opener, then went right back out and took care of business. That's the part of sports that teaches young fans the most: you don't get to choose the bad day, but you do get to choose the next one.

As for Andreeva, the performance on Wednesday was a warning to the rest of the field. Winning 11 straight games against a player of Sabalenka's power doesn't happen by accident. It takes discipline, patience and nerve, and she showed all three when she was down 4-1 and could easily have let the set go.

What Comes Next

Group 1 wraps up Thursday, and Group 2 finishes Friday with Sabalenka against Svitolina and Andreeva against Muchova ^[1][4]. The four semifinalists will then play for a spot in the title match before the tournament ends on Nov. 15 ^[6]. If either American gets through on Thursday, Indian Wells will have a home-crowd story to carry into the weekend.