Sabalenka

World number two Sabalenka’s campaign at the WTA Finals came to a disappointing end after she failed to the reach the semifinals of the season-ending championships.

Elina Svitolina overwhelmed Aryna Sabalenka in the deciding set to seal a ⁠6-3, 3-6, 6-1 upset on Friday and reach the semifinals of the season-ending WTA Finals in Indian Wells, where she will face Linda Noskova.

Svitolina absorbed and redirected Sabalenka’s power effectively, breaking the ⁠Belarusian six times before sealing her first victory over her opponent in more than six years with a forehand winner on her fourth match point.

With the win, Svitolina improved to 2-6 against Sabalenka in their career meetings.

“It was a bit of a roller-coaster match,” Svitolina told reporters.

“I played well in ‌the first set but lost a little bit of rhythm. She played well in the second and served much better. I was really happy with the way I could come back in the third after losing the first game.”

No handshake

The Ukrainian again did not shake hands with Sabalenka after the match, maintaining her policy of not doing so with Russian and Belarusian players following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Svitolina, the 2018 WTA Finals champion, will face Noskova on ⁠Saturday for a place in the final.

The defeat ended Sabalenka’s season ⁠on a disappointing note.

The second seed won Brisbane International in January and then Indian Wells and the Miami Open in March to complete the “Sunshine Double” but did not claim another title after that.

Sabalenka also surrendered the world number one ⁠ranking to Elena Rybakina at the US Open.

She had entered the season finale among the favourites after Rybakina withdrew on the eve of ⁠the tournament because of illness.

Sabalenka declined to speak to the ⁠media following Friday’s loss.

Andreeva rolls

Earlier in the day, tournament debutant Andreeva continued her impressive run with a 6-2, 6-1 win over fellow Russian Diana Shnaider, her third straight-sets victory of the week.

Shnaider, Andreeva’s friend and doubles partner, replaced Karolina Muchova, who ‌withdrew before the final day of round-robin matches with a gastrointestinal illness.

Andreeva had already secured her place in the semifinals before facing Shnaider and will meet American Jessica Pegula on Saturday.

The eight-day, $10m ‌tournament was moved from Riyadh to Indian Wells Tennis Garden due to the United States-Israeli war on Iran. The event will be played in Charlotte starting next year.

Sabalenka has had – by her high standards – a strange season.

For the first time since 2022 she has not won a Grand Slam singles title, having lost the Australian Open and US Open finals to Rybakina, and her last title came in Miami in March.

After winning just one of her three matches during the Asian swing, Sabalenka took a break before the season-ending finals.

She faced a tricky task against the crafty Muchova, who was the only player at the event to have a winning head-to-head against her.

The Czech also claimed the first break of the opening set – but, in a pattern that repeated throughout the match, Sabalenka broke straight back.

Muchova served for the first set but a string of errors forced her into a tie-break, and more mistakes gifted Sabalenka the opener.

A topsy-turvy second set featured five breaks of serve, with Sabalenka serving the match out on her second attempt.

Teenager Andreeva, who beat Sabalenka in the 2025 Indian Wells final, was ruthless against Svitolina.

The Russian reeled off seven games in a row against the wayward Svitolina, backed by her impressive backhand.

Andreeva saved all six break points she faced – four of which came in the final game – and hit nine winners to 12 unforced errors in a 77-minute victory.

Elsewhere, Britain’s Cameron Norrie beat Australian James Duckworth 7-5 6-0 to reach the Stockholm Open second round.

Norrie will face top seed Taylor Fritz next as he continues his preparations for this month’s Davis Cup Finals.

Fellow Briton Toby Samuel claimed a 6-3 6-2 win over Leo Borg – son of 11-time Grand Slam singles champion Bjorn – at the same event.