INDIAN WELLS, California, March 16 (Reuters) - Aryna Sabalenka had plans for every eventuality going into the Indian Wells final on Sunday but even when nothing went right the world number one still found a way to win, claiming the title with a gutsy a 3-6 6-3 7-6(6) victory over Elena Rybakina.
Sabalenka had lost the 2023 final to Rybakina as well as the title deciders at last year's WTA Finals and the Australian Open in January, and the Belarusian looked to be on the way to another defeat to the Kazakh in the Californian desert.
However, the four-times Grand Slam champion showed all her battling qualities to claw her way back into the match and go on to record victory.
"The whole point was to have A, B, C, D, E, and blah, blah, blah plans. Today, A, B and C definitely didn't work," Sabalenka told reporters.
"So I had to basically run there and put as much ball back at her as possible, and when I felt more confident, I went back to my usual game which is an aggressive and dominating game.
"I'm super happy that I was able to progress that far and to have so many tools in my game, so that no matter what happens in the match, I'm able to still find the small things that are going to help me to win the match."
Sabalenka said losing big finals in the past had helped her build mental strength.
"With so many finals I've lost, they also teach me a lot of things that the game is never done till it's done. So if it's a matchpoint, you still have a chance to get back into the game," Sabalenka said.
"That's something I learned, to be mentally strong no matter what. Though I lost so many big ones and painful ones, I'm still able to go out there, even when things are not going well, and stay focused and fight for it."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
