By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Sunday, March 16, 2025
Photograph credit score: Tony Chang/Chang Pictures
One thought hounded Aryna Sabalenka’s head after her three-set loss to Mirra Andreeva in immediately’s Indian Wells last.
Rematch.
“Yeah. Yeah. I need the rematch already,” Sabalenka mentioned with a smile after her 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 loss. “Possibly she made a giant mistake proper now, nevertheless it’s okay. I’ll let her benefit from the stunning trophy.
“No, I am kidding. I do not wish to discuss like that.
“However in fact subsequent match I will exit and battle much more, and I’ll ensure that I did not make the identical mistake that I did immediately.”
Dealing with off for the third time this season, Sabalenka had not misplaced her serve towards Andreeva till the third sport of the second set immediately.
In the long run, the 17-year-old Andreeva performed with extra selection, readability and dedication down the stretch. Andreeva hit 5 extra winners—29 to 24—5 extra aces—6 to 1—and reeled off eight of the final 9 factors with a shrewd mix of defensive will get and offensive strikes. Andreeva broke Sabalenka’s serve 3 times within the last set immediately.
It’s the second gut-wrenching three-set last loss for Sabalenka this season.
The US Open champion misplaced her Australian Open title in a three-set basic to American Madison Keys.
A ruthless Sabalenka crushed Keys profitable 11 straight video games in a 6-0, 6-1 semifinal trashing to succeed in the Indian Wells last.
After dropping the opening set, Andreeva belted a ball into the stands and was barking at her field, together with her mother and coach, Wimbledon winner Conchita Martinez. These outbursts appeared to settle {the teenager}.
Sabalenka mentioned she ought to have managed her feelings higher and channeled her anger into motion within the last set.
“I used to be simply too pissed with myself, as a result of I believe, yeah, it should not be the way in which I completed and I used to be simply pissed with myself,” Sabalenka informed the media in Indian Wells. “I ought to have simply thrown that aggression on that facet as an alternative of being an excessive amount of, too laborious on myself.
“So I wasn’t actually caring about what she was doing. I knew what she was going to do, and nothing actually shocked me. It is extra identical to about me controlling my anger just a little bit higher.”
