INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — In the final round-robin match, the 2026 WTA Finals got its first stunner.
After six years and six consecutive losses, Elina Svitolina got a win over four-time Grand Slam champion Aryna Sabalenka at the best possible time. With a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 triumph, that included her winning the last six games, the Ukrainian qualified for the semifinals of the flagship event in women’s tennis, on her first appearance since 2019.
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When Sabalenka used her momentum from winning the second set to break Svitolina in the first game of the third, it seemed like a comeback win was on for the Belarusian. Instead, Svitolina’s aggressive play, and a by-now familar raggedness to Sabalenka’s tennis, saw her streak away with the set.
As match point arrived for Svitolina, there was an extraordinary run of shotmaking. Sabalenka saved two match points with shots on the edge of the line, one a return winner. In between Svitolina hit aces that caught the lines to set up more match points.
After saving four match points, Sabalenka pushed Svitolina back and set up a routine forehand putaway to earn a break point. Instead, she over-rotated on the shot and spun it wide.
A point later, Svitolina’s arms were in the air, as she consigned Sabalenka to a round-robin exit and condemned her to finishing No. 3 in the world in the process. With three-round robin wins at the WTA Finals, 19-year-old French Open champion Mirra Andreeva has overtaken Sabalenka.
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After a tumultuous period in which she announced her divorce from fellow player Gaël Monfils, Svitolina has rebounded to crown her best season since 2019 with a semifinals berth. For Sabalenka, the loss means she is 2-4 since losing the U.S. Open final to Elena Rybakina. She ends the season with her fewest wins since 2022 and no Grand Slam titles, after two final defeats — both to Rybakina.
Svitolina will face Wimbledon champion Linda Nosková in the semifinals, while Andreeva faces Jessica Pegula of the U.S.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Tennis, Women’s Tennis
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