Aryna Sabalenka said “badly wanting revenge” was pretty much the biggest reason behind her dominant win against Madison Keys as she simply entered the court with a clear mission.
A month and a half after falling just short in a dramatic Australian Open final and being left extremely devastated and heartbroken, the world No. 1 obliterated the American tennis star 6-0 6-1 in the Indian Wells semifinal.
For Sabalenka, it was her fifth win in seven meetings against Keys. Before their Indian Wells match, three of their matches finished in straight sets and three in straight sets. However, even those past matches that finished in two sets, weren’t really that dominant or straightforward wins like this one.
Sabalenka asked to explain why it was not a tight meeting against Keys this time
“Well, I needed this revenge badly, so I was really focused, and I think tactically I played really great tennis. I would say that today was a bit opposite. Like I played great at the beginning, and she kind of lost her rhythm and she couldn’t play her best tennis. I think that’s why the match went so fast. So at the Australian Open, I played really bad and she played great. It’s just, like, tennis (smiling). Let’s just call it tennis,” the top seed explained.
From start to finish, it was all Sabalenka. During the first set, Keys only had game points in one game – the No. 5 seed didn’t convert any of her four game points in the fourth game. When it comes to break points, the American created only break point chance early in the second set and didn’t convert it.
After stating in her presser that she only “followed my strategy,” Sabalenka was asked to reveal what it was exactly.
“Just keep her out of the rhythm. Don’t give her fast balls just so she’s not in a good rhythm of her shots, stay low,” the Belarusian revealed.
In the Indian Wells final, Sabalenka plays against Mirra Andreeva, who is coming off a Dubai win and now has 11 wins in a row.
Tennis World USA