WTA Finals: Andreeva routs Sabalenka and reaches the semi-finals
· BehindLines newsroom
Mirra Andreeva beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-0 on Wednesday, 11 November 2026, at the WTA Finals in Indian Wells, California. The win makes her winner of Group 2 and sends her into the semi-finals, according to the BBC, ESPN and Sky Sports.
Eleven games in a row
Sabalenka, the world number two, started better: according to the BBC and ESPN, the 19-year-old Russian and French Open (Roland-Garros) champion was 4-1 down in the first set. She then won eleven consecutive games. ESPN adds that she took 20 of the next 23 points and finished the match in 62 minutes. Also per the BBC, Andreeva hit 16 winners against only 6 unforced errors, plus three aces in a row to close out the first set. Sabalenka made 23 unforced errors and did not hit a single ace.
A day that reshapes the group
Andreeva told Sky Sports, according to the BBC, that Sabalenka was not at her sharpest and that she could not claim all the credit herself. Sabalenka, a four-time Grand Slam singles winner according to the BBC, played with tape above her right knee, ESPN notes. Andreeva has dropped only eight games in two round-robin matches: she had already beaten Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-0 on Monday.
In the first match of the day, Svitolina beat Karolina Muchova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, according to Sky Sports. The Ukrainian had taken a medical timeout for her right hip after losing the first set, the BBC states. Muchova, out of the semi-final race, made 39 unforced errors.
What is left to play
The last place in the group will be decided on Friday, 13 November, between Sabalenka and Svitolina, ESPN recalls. Sabalenka gave up the world number one ranking, which she had held for 99 consecutive weeks, to Elena Rybakina, according to the same source.
Why it matters
The result puts Andreeva, crowned at the French Open in June and the 2025 Indian Wells winner against the same opponent, in the last four of a tournament she is playing for the first time. Sabalenka, who had beaten Muchova in her first match, must beat Svitolina on Friday to qualify in turn. The sources agree on the score and on what is at stake in the group's last match.