Aryna Sabalenka opened her WTA Finals campaign in Indian Wells on Monday, November 9, 2026, with a hard-fought, nearly two-hour victory over Czech player Karolina Muchova, prevailing 7-6, 7-5 in Group 2 action.
The tournament got underway at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California, where world number two Aryna Sabalenka battled through a difficult opening match, Blick reported. Playing late Monday evening Swiss time, the top-seeded Belarusian struggled with consistency on her serve.
Sabalenka committed a total of seven double faults during the match. She surrendered her serve twice in the opening set before managing to secure it in a tiebreak, according to Blick.
The second set proved equally tight before Sabalenka closed out the contest in 1 hour and 53 minutes, utilizing her second matchball as reported by SRF. The victory makes her the highest-ranked player remaining in the field following the late withdrawal of top-ranked Elena Rybakina due to illness, Blick noted.
Muchova Seeks Rhythm Changes
Karolina Muchova entered the tournament as the world number seven and Wimbledon finalist, according to SRF. In the days leading up to the match, the Czech player discussed her tactical approach against the hard-hitting Belarusian.
To counter Sabalenka’s power, Muchova planned to utilize her slice to vary the rhythm on the court.
Despite dropping the opening set 7-6, with a 7-2 tiebreak score noted by SRF, Muchova pushed the second set to 7-5. Sabalenka’s frustration was visible during the contest as she twice trailed by a break in the opening set, according to SRF’s on-site reporting.
Andreeva Wins Quickly in Group 2
In the other Group 2 encounter on the opening day, 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva won her match more quickly. The Russian teenager defeated Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-0, losing just four games, as detailed by Blick.
I was so tight – I felt like I was moving like a turtle,
Andreeva said, as quoted by SRF. I’m glad I survived the match.
The straight-sets victory places Andreeva at the top of the Group 2 standings after the first round of matches. Svitolina, who previously won the season-ending event in 2018, returned to the tournament after a seven-year absence, according to tennisnet.com.
WTA Finals Prize Purse Reaches $10,000,000
The WTA Finals in Indian Wells feature a total prize purse of $10,000,000, drawing the top players on the tour for round-robin play. News.de reported that American Jessica Pegula enters the event as the fifth-ranked player in the tournament draw.
Action continues Wednesday with the second round of group matches, where the opening-day winners face each other and the defeated players meet in elimination-track fixtures. The group stage concludes Friday, leading to Saturday semifinals and Sunday’s championship match.
Worth a look
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