Andreeva bagels Sabalenka to seal WTA Finals semi-final spot

Mirra Andreeva needed only 62 minutes to beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-4 6-0 at the WTA Finals, a result that confirmed her as winner of Group 2 and sent her through to Friday's semi-finals, according to Independent Sport.

The 19-year-old, ranked World No 3 and the reigning Roland Garros champion, is playing her first edition of the season-ending event in Indian Wells and has now won both of her round robin matches without dropping a set.

Sabalenka, the World No 2, had opened the group stage by beating Karolina Muchova 7-6(2), 7-5, a result reported by Tennis365, while Andreeva had begun her campaign by crushing Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-0.

In the same group, Svitolina kept her own semi-final hopes alive by recovering from a set down to beat Muchova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, eliminating the Czech from contention, Independent Sport reported.

Against Sabalenka, Andreeva found herself 4-1 down inside the opening set after the Belarusian broke serve in the fourth game, but she won three games in a row to level at 4-4 before breaking again to serve out the set.

The turnaround then became total. Andreeva broke early in the second set to lead 3-0 and did not surrender another game, with Yahoo Sports noting she won 45 of the match's final 55 points as Sabalenka's level collapsed.

Andreeva finished the match having struck 16 winners against only six unforced errors, figures cited by Independent Sport, and in doing so handed Sabalenka her first bagel set since February 2024.

Sabalenka was blunt in assessing her own performance afterwards. Asked what she would tell herself if she were her own coach, she replied with a pointed verdict on her display, calling herself a "f***ing loser", as reported by Tennis365.

The defeat leaves Sabalenka needing victory over Svitolina in Friday's final round robin match simply to stay in the tournament. Tennis365 reported that a win would take her through to the semi-finals in second place behind Andreeva, while defeat would end her campaign and send Svitolina through instead.

Andreeva's form in Indian Wells has arrived against a backdrop of comments from Jessica Pegula, who was heard during a practice session ahead of the tournament calling Andreeva a "diva" and saying she "needs to be humbled", according to Yahoo Sports, which noted fans had linked those remarks to her subsequent displays.

Attention at the tournament now turns to Friday, when Svitolina and Sabalenka contest the second semi-final berth from Group 2, with Andreeva already assured of her place in the last four as group winner.