INDIAN WELLS: Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabal­anka claimed their maiden Indian Wells titles, after gripping matches under the California desert sun on Sunday.

Sinner downed Daniil Medvedev 7-6(8/6), 7-6(7/4) while Sabalenka saved a match point on the way to a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(8/6) victory over Elena Rybakina.

The Italian was imperious throughout, finishing with 28 winners, 10 aces and a perfect eight out of eight net points.

He is now only the third player in history to win all six ATP Masters 1000 hard-court titles, joining Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

Furthermore, with his first title of the year, he became the first player since 1990 to win consecutive Masters 1000 titles without dropping a set and extended his winning streak in this category to 11 matches, dating back to his Paris title last November.

“I kept believing and kept pushing,” Sinner said after the match. “I went for my shots a little more. A third set, we would have started even, so I tried my best to close it out and I am very happy. It was an incredible ending.

“It was a very, very tough match,” Sinner said. “It is great to see Daniil back playing this level. I am very happy. I came here from day one, training really hard and this result makes me very happy,” he added.

Medvedev reached the final in superb form, having stunned the world number one, Carlos Alcaraz, in the semi-finals ending the Australian Open champion’s perfect 16-match winning streak at the start of the season.

However, he has now lost three Indian Wells finals.

Earlier in the women’s decider, Sabalenka claimed a long-awaited first Indian Wells title.

Sabalenka ended a frustrating run of finals futility against Rybakina, who had won their last four title clashes starting with a triumph at Indian Wells in 2023 and including a nail-biter at the Australian Open in January.

Sabalenka rallied from a break down in the second set and fought off a match point trailing 5-6 in the tiebreaker before finally gaining the longed-for title — and a healthy measure of revenge.

“Thanks God I got this trophy,” said the Belarusian, who lost to Russian teen Mirra Andreeva in last year’s final.

She had appeared on her way with a break for 2-1 in the third set.

But Rybakina piled on the return pressure to break back for 5-5 and fought off five break points in the next game.

Deflated but determined, Sabalenka held at love to force the tiebreaker, rallying from 3-5 down before saving match point with a stunning backhand winner. She won the next point on Rybakina’s serve and delivered another massive serve herself to seal it.

“On that five-all game, I was really upset each time I would miss her second serve,” Sabalenka said. “I felt like I had a lot of opportunities in that game, which I didn’t use. I didn’t feel my best, for sure, after that game.

“But what I’m happy with is that in the next one I was able to pull out great serves to get that game and get into the tiebreak.”

Sabalenka said that the “boiling” temperature on court had her “dying” in the tiebreaker, but she could see that Rybakina was affected, too.

“I think the first set I played really well, and I was much more with the energy. Second set, big drop,” Rybakina said. “Then in the third, I think for both of us was quite difficult.”

Sabalenka will now head into her Miami Open title defense aiming to complete the “Sunshine Double.”

Rybakina will arrive in Miami ranked second in the world, climbing one spot to overtake Poland’s Iga Swiatek.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2026