MATCH POINT: Mirra-culous! Andreeva rallies to beat No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka for Indian Wells title

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Mirra Andreeva has won her second straight WTA 1000 title at Indian Wells, and at 17 years old she's the third-youngest woman ever to conquer the desert, after Martina Hingis in 1998 and Serena Williams in 1999.

But the way Andreeva won Indian Wells was even more historic.

By defeating No. 2-ranked Iga Swiatek in the semifinals and No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the final, Andreeva has become the second-youngest player in WTA rankings history to defeat both of the Top 2 players in the world at the same tournament.

The only younger player to achieve the feat is Tracy Austin, who actually did it twice as a 16-year-old in 1979, at the US Open and Filderstadt.

Official WTA rankings began on November 3rd, 1975.

YOUNGEST PLAYERS TO BEAT WTA TOP 2 AT SAME EVENT:

  • 16 years & 8 months: Tracy Austin at 1979 US Open (d. No. 2 Navratilova in SFs and No. 1 Evert in F)
  • 16 years & 10 months: Tracy Austin at 1979 Filderstadt (d. No. 2 Evert in SFs and No. 1 Navratilova in F)
  • 17 years & 10 months: Mirra Andreeva at 2025 Indian Wells (d. No. 2 Swiatek in SFs and No. 1 Sabalenka in F)
  • 17 years & 11 months: Serena Williams at 1999 US Open (d. No. 2 Davenport in SFs and No. 1 Hingis in F)
  • 18 years & 10 months: Serena Williams at 2000 Los Angeles (d. No. 1 Hingis in SFs and No. 2 Davenport in F)

(Note: the WTA match notes for the final mistakenly stated that Steffi Graf also did this as a 17-year-old at Miami in 1987, beating No. 1 Navratilova and No. 2 Evert, but those were just their seedings, and Graf had passed Evert for the No. 2 ranking the week before—the full list of all players to do this can be found on Page 14 of the WTA's official media guide)

Andreeva is now on a 12-match winning streak, picking up back-to-back WTA 1000 titles at Dubai and Indian Wells.

Andreeva is now on a 12-match winning streak, picking up back-to-back WTA 1000 titles at Dubai and Indian Wells.

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And neither of Andreeva's back-to-back Top 2 wins were easy, either.

After squeaking out a close first set in a tie-break, Andreeva had to battle back after a second-set blow-out to defeat Swiatek in the semifinals on Friday, edging the two-time Indian Wells champion, 7-6 (1), 1-6, 6-3.

Then, after another blow-out in the first set of the final on Sunday, she clawed her way back to defeat Sabalenka for the title, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

And if her start to the year is anything to go by, watch out—Andreeva's victory over Sabalenka was her 19th win of the season, breaking a tie with Swiatek and Madison Keys for the most on the women's tour this year.

She'll now head to Miami, where—should she win the title there, too—she would become the youngest player ever, male or female, to complete the Sunshine Double of winning Indian Wells and Miami in the same year.

No teenager has ever achieved the feat, and she's still only 17.

MATCH POINT: Mirra Andreeva dethrones Iga Swiatek in Indian Wells semifinal