'I Needed This Revenge Badly': Sabalenka Delighted To Thrash Keys At Indian Wells
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Aryna Sabalenka completely destroyed Madison Keys to reach the 2025 Indian Wells Open final, and she spoke about how hungry she was to get the win after the match.
Sabalenka lost to Keys in the Australian Open final this year. The Belarusian player won the opening Grand Slam of the season in 2023 and 2024, and she was going for a rare three-peat.
However, the American player beat her 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 to lift her maiden major. Keys won in Adelaide before triumphing at the Australian Open, and with her four wins in Indian Wells, she was on a 16-match winning streak before taking on the reigning World No. 1.
But Sabalenka ended her streak, and she did that in an absolutely dominant way. The top seed destroyed Keys 6-0, 6-1, and at 6-0, 5-0, it looked like she might be able to double-bagel her opponent.
After the match, Sabalenka was asked about her incredible win over Keys. The 26-year-old player explained that she wanted to avenge her Australian Open loss.
"Well, I needed this revenge badly, so I was really focused, and I think tactically I played really great tennis. I would say that today was a bit the opposite. I played great at the beginning, and she kind of lost her rhythm, and she couldn't play her best tennis."
"I think that's why the match went so fast. So, in Australia, I played really badly, and she played great. It's just tennis (smiling). Let's just call it tennis."
The two-time Australian Open champion was then asked how "desperate" she was to avenge the loss. She said that she wasn't desperate but hungry to beat her opponent.
"It's not like I was really desperate. I was more... I don't know how to call it. I was hungry, and as I said before, that Australian Open match was really heartbreaking for me, and I really needed some time to recover after that."
"And if I would lose today again, it would get in my head and I didn't want that to happen. I was really focused, so I was just really hungry to get this win against Madison."
In the final, Sabalenka will play against 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva, who stunned Iga Swiatek in the other semi-final. Ahead of the final match, the Belarusian player said that the age difference makes her feel old.
"It's just so awkward for me to think that I'm 26 and 27 this year, and she's 17 and is, like, just two years older than my sister. I look at my sister as a kid. I remember her being this little baby. So I look at Mirra and think, 'Oh my God, I'm so old.' That's just crazy."
