Rybakina hits 12 straight Top 10 wins, earns Indian Wells final rematch with Sabalenka

There are few words left to describe Elena Rybakina’s run dating back to last fall’s Asian swing. Since October, she has collected titles at the WTA Finals and the Australian Open, and on Friday night added another milestone by reaching her second Indian Wells final with a 7-5, 6-4 win over World No. 9 Elina Svitolina in 1 hour and 46 minutes.

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It marked her 12th straight victory over Top 10 opponents, a streak that began last October in Ningbo -- where she also lifted the trophy. She’ll now have a chance to push that number to 13 when she faces World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in Sunday’s final. Rybakina trails Sabalenka 7-8 at the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz level but has won their last two meetings -- both in finals -- in Riyadh and Melbourne.

“We know each other's games very well,” Rybakina said in her post-match press conference. “It's going to be a difficult match where we both are going to try to serve well, that's for sure, put pressure, and…we will see what's going to happen.”

If her form against Svitolina, and throughout the week for that matter, is any indication, the 2023 BNP Paribas Open champion will have a strong chance to claim her second title in the desert later this weekend.

Eluding pressure and forehand variety key Rybakina’s victory

It wasn’t the quickest of starts for Rybakina, who watched Svitolina hold with an ace and then break for 2-0 with a perfectly placed forehand into the corner. But in what quickly became a theme, the soon-to-be new World No. 2 didn’t let adversity linger.

She responded with a backhand winner at the net, followed by a forehand winner -- one of many on the night -- to set up double break point. But she needed only one to get back on serve at 2-1. The two then traded holds to 5-all, capped by a Rybakina service game shaped by her crosscourt prowess and a finishing ace.

Then came the marathon game that set the tone for the rest of the match.

Rybakina let a pair of break points slip away in a five-deuce game but stayed composed and kept attacking. She continued to unload forehand winner after forehand winner to extend the game and create repeated chances to break Svitolina’s serve.

Eventually, the persistence paid off. Rybakina broke for 6-5 and then struck two more forehand winners in the final game to serve out the set after 52 minutes. The forehand was firing, but so was the first serve. She won 90% (19 of 21) of her first-serve points in the opener.

The second set initially looked straightforward as Rybakina raced out to a 5-1 lead and held her first match point. But Svitolina showed her trademark resilience, saving it, holding for 5-2, and then fighting off another match point as Rybakina served for the match.

In a 10-minute game, Svitolina converted her fourth break point to close the gap to 5-3. After holding for 5-4, she forced Rybakina to serve for it again. The nerves showed -- notably on a backhand she pushed into the net with an open court -- but Rybakina steadied herself with a forehand winner down the line, another on the approach, and a backhand down the line to earn a third match point, 20 minutes after the first.

This time, she closed, putting away one last ball at the net to seal a hard-fought victory and improve her record against Svitolina to 4-3.

Since 2000, Rybakina is the fifth player to record 12 or more consecutive wins over WTA Top 10 opponents, joining Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Justine Henin and Iga Swiatek.