Aryna Sabalenka celebrates match point against Linda Noskova of Czech Republic during their Women's Singles Semifinals match. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/AFP)
Indian Wells, United States: Aryna Sabalenka roared past Linda Noskova on Friday to book an Indian Wells title showdown with Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina.
Sabalenka beat 14th-ranked Czech Noskova 6-3, 6-4 and Rybakina downed Ukraine's Elina Svitolina 7-5, 6-4 to set up a mouth-watering rematch of their Melbourne final.
Rybakina also beat Sabalenka in the 2023 championship match in Indian Wells -- where the Belarusian star has come up empty in two prior trips to the final.
"I want that match," said Sabalenka, who has been in imperious form in the California desert this year.
She fired 37 winners with 11 aces, applying relentless pressure from the baseline in a commanding win over Noskova.
She broke the big-serving Czech twice as she powered to a 5-1 lead in the opening set.
There was a hiccup as she tried to serve out the set, and Sabalenka, who had lost just one point in her first three service games, was broken.
Noskova kept the set alive with a battling hold in a marathon eighth game, fending off a set point with a service winner and sealing the game with an ace.
Serving for the set again, Sabalenka opened with a double fault and went down 0-30, but a pair of big serves and a backhand winner brought her to set point, and she claimed it with an ace.
Sabalenka broke Noskova to open the second and was on her way. Noskova fended off a second break, but she was unable to convert a break opportunity in the eighth game as Sabalenka brought it home, capping the victory with a forehand winner on her third match point.
"I think I really played great tennis," Sabalenka said. "I was serving well. I was playing well. I like the way I put her under pressure on her serve."
Rybakina, who is set to rise one spot to number two in the world on Monday, had too much firepower for ninth-ranked Svitolina, who was coming off a three-set win over two-time champion Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals.
Rybakina recouped an early break in a tight first set and seized control with a break for 6-5, her steady pressure on Svitolina's serve provoking too many mistakes from the Ukrainian.
