By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Mirra Andreeva has done it.
Facing doubts and being considered a massive underdog to world no. 1 female tennis player Aryna Sabalenka during the grand finals of the BNP Paribas Indian Wells Open, the Russian ace proved her critics wrong after pulling off a massive upset to win the title on March 17, 2025.
Andreeva scored a reverse sweep to frustrate Sabalenka- 2.6, 6.4, 6.3- to cap off her Indian Wells Open campaign with an amazing run as she also upset world no. 2 Iga Swiatek during the semifinal stage.
After facing an early hole when Sabalenka fired from all cylinders in the opening set with a one-sided 6-2 victory, Andreeva turned on the jets in the next frame and banked on her defensive mindset that changed the complexion of the championship showdown.
From pure offensive fireworks in the first set, the following period turned into a tactical battle as Andreeva was able to slow Sabalenka down by placing deep top-spin groundstrokes on the wide side.
With this move, Andreeva prevented Sabalenka from turning to her right shoulder and fire her signature forehand bombs. The top WTA player had to return a looping backhand, which was pummeled by the Russian star in the no-man’s land.
That adjustment kicked off Andreeva’s resurgence in the match and didn’t look back after she also improved her winning percentage in her first service possessions.
With the deadly combination of her lethal first serve and a more consistent groundstroke attack in the baseline, Andreeva made Sabalenka work after showing tremendous court mastery.
Sabalenka attempted to claw her way back in the third set after gaining a little momentum with a service hold but Andreeva trimmed her come-from-behind chances down after scoring a break followed by another hold to build a three-point lead.
Only two points away from bagging the golden trophy, Andreeva wrapped the intense finale with a cross-court backhand hammer and a sweet drop shot to secure the dub.
“I was running like a rabbit today because Aryna, she’s been sending bullets and it was really hard to just keep up. I just tried my best and that’s why I would thank myself because I think that I played a little part also,” said Andreeva after winning the championship against Sabalenka.
