By ESPN | Created at 2025-03-16 21:05:25 | Updated at 2025-03-17 03:31:33
6 hours ago
Associated Press
Mar 16, 2025, 04:45 PM ET
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva came back to beat No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday to make the 17-year-old the tournament's youngest champion since Serena Williams in 1999.
The 11th-ranked Andreeva improved to 19-3 this season -- the most wins by a woman on tour -- and collected her second Masters 1000 title of 2025. The other came at Dubai in February, which earned her a top-10 ranking for the first time. Andreeva will return to that upper tier in Monday's WTA rankings.
When she dropped the first set against three-time Grand Slam title winner Sabalenka, Andreeva put her body into the windup after grabbing a ball, then angrily smacked it toward the stands.
Andreeva -- wearing training tape on her right shoulder -- played much better in the second set, particularly on serve, while compiling a 17-7 edge in winners. Soon enough, that set belonged to her when she hit an ace to hold at love for the first time all day.
Just shy of 1½ hours into the match, they were heading to a third set.
And the teenager got started in the best way possible, breaking the big-serving Sabalenka at love. Andreeva took a 1-0 lead in the third with a too-strong passing shot that Sabalenka could barely even get her racket on.
Soon, Andreeva's lead was 4-2 and she never faltered.
She ended the match with one last forehand winner, then dropped to her knees and covered her face with both hands.
This was her fifth consecutive victory over a top-10 opponent, and Andreeva is now 9-5 against players ranked that high since the start of 2024. That includes two victories each over Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Swiatek, the five-time major champion who lost to Andreeva in the semifinals at Indian Wells.
Andreeva is the first player under age 18 to beat the women ranked No. 1 and No. 2 at the same WTA tournament since Williams defeated Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis at the 1999 U.S. Open.
The Russian is also the youngest to win a WTA trophy by defeating the woman ranked No. 1 in a final since Maria Sharapova beat Davenport at Tokyo in 2005.
