INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Revenge can be a pretty strong motivator, and it was on full display Friday night at Indian Wells as Aryna Sabalenka got more than a measure of it against Madison Keys.
Seven weeks after losing to Keys in a three-set heartbreaker in the Australian Open final, Sabalenka took advantage of a far different version of Keys. Sabalenka dismantled Keys 6-0, 6-1 in 51 minutes.
The match was never close to being in doubt. Keys struggled from the beginning to keep her balls on the court and get them over the net. Sabalenka can be one of the most relentless opponents in the game. She didn’t need to be Friday night.
Keys raised her arms in triumph when she finally won a game. It was a tiny victory in a match that barely had any of them.
The loss ended a remarkable winning streak for Keys that began in Adelaide the week before the Australian Open. She won five matches there, seven more at the Australian Open and four more here. After beating Belinda Bencic in the quarterfinals, Keys said she had never felt more confident.
“I think the reality of winning as many matches as I have this early in a season hasn’t ever really happened for me, so I think there is definitely a lot of just kind of confidence from all those wins under your belt,” she said. “I think it kind of gives me the confidence to, in really tight situations, just continue to go for kind of whatever I want to.”
She did Friday night, but the ball just never came off the strings. And all Sabalenka had to do was keep putting it back on the court until Keys missed.
(Photo of Aryna Sabalenka: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images)
