Elena Rybakina gained a measure of revenge for her Australia Open final defeat as she beat Aryna Sabalenka to claim the Indian Wells Open title.

Rybakina lost 4-6 6-3 6-4 to Sabalenka in Melbourne in January, but the world number 10, who will move up three places in the WTA rankings now, came out on top 7-6 (13-11) 6-4 on Sunday to clinch her first triumph at a WTA 1000 tournament.

It marks a fourth singles title of Rybakina's career, and her first since her maiden grand slam success at Wimbledon last year. She had not beaten Sabalenka in four previous attempts.

Having defeated Iga Swiatek in the last four, Rybakina is the first player to defeat the world number one and two in the semi-finals and final of a tournament since Garbine Muguruza at the 2017 Western & Southern Open.

Ten double faults marred Sabalenka's first set, though the Belarusian initially nosed ahead by claiming the first break of serve in the fifth game – albeit a shanked forehand that flew over Rybakina's head had more than a touch of fortune about it.

Rybakina broke back but saw a set point go begging at 6-5 up. A remarkable tussle followed in the tie-break, Sabalenka earning a set point with a sublime winner before a wild double-fault and a rash backhand gifted her opponent a chance.

Yet Rybakina too double-faulted as neither player was able to find the composure needed to get themselves ahead until, at the fifth time of asking, the eventual champion held her nerve.

Perhaps drained by her first-set exploits, Sabalenka – who was evidently emotional when she returned to the court after a short break – offered no resistance as Rybakina broke her with ease in the first game of the second set.

She did make Rybakina fend off two break points, and then saved two herself, in the fourth and fifth games, though a double break saw the Kazakh move to within a game of victory.

Sabalenka's resolve returned, the world number two reeling off eight of the next nine points to drag herself back to 5-4, yet Rybakina gathered herself on her next serve.

A cool forehand teed up match point, which was taken at the first opportunity when Sabalenka clipped a return straight into the net.

Carlos Alcaraz is eagerly anticipating an Indian Wells Open final against "the best tennis player in the world" Daniil Medvedev and expects a long-lasting rivalry with downed opponent Jannik Sinner.

Spaniard Alcaraz defeated Italian Sinner 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in California to reach his first Indian Wells final and move within one win of a return to the top of the ATP World Rankings.

Standing in his way is the in-form Medvedev, who owns a 19-match unbeaten run and has won three straight titles.

The two have only met once competitively, with Medvedev winning in straight sets at Wimbledon in 2021 and Alcaraz always wants to challenge himself against the elite on tour.

"I really want to play against the best tennis player in the world," Alcaraz said. 

"I always say that if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, and I would say that Daniil is the best player right now, amazing winning streak.

"For me, it's going to be a really difficult challenge but I'm really prepared for that. I will summon my best tomorrow in the final."

Against Sinner, Alcaraz overcame an opponent with whom he is developing quite the budding rivalry.

It was their fifth career showdown and the first time they had met since Alcaraz won a marathon US Open quarter-final, a match that finished at 2.50am local time – the latest ending at the New York major.

"I would say we're going to have a great rivalry over the years. We are playing in the best tournaments in the world. It's not over here. We are going to play a lot of great matches," Alcaraz added.

"All I can say is I'm really happy with my first final here in Indian Wells.

"Playing against Jannik is never easy. I had to overcome a little bit of problems. I had set point down. 

"I knew that I had to increase my level to [beat] Jannik. It was a really close first set. In the second set I put out all the nerves and played more relaxed. I think it was the key of everything."

Medvedev will also play in his first Indian Wells final after defeating Frances Tiafoe 7-5 7-6 (7-4) in the other semi-final.

Medvedev has won in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai and will be the first man to win four titles in five weeks since Andy Murray in 2016 if he can down Alcaraz.

Against Tiafoe, the Russian put in a great showing but let slip seven match points and was broken twice when serving for the match.

"It was crazy at the end," said Medvedev. "I got super tight. I would say that [after] 6-5, 40-0, I think I got tight at deuce when I was like, 'Oh my god, that's a lot of opportunities missed, this could go not well for me'. 

"So, I got really tight, [but] I still managed to continue playing good. The ace [on match point] was a relief, I’m just really happy that I managed not to lose this match."

Carlos Alcaraz qualified for his third final from three events this season and moved within one win of re-claiming the world number one ranking after beating Jannik Sinner in the Indian Wells Open semi-finals on Saturday.

The 2022 US Open champion triumphed 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 over the Italian 11th seed in one hour and 54 minutes.

Alcaraz is into his maiden Indian Wells final, having lost last year's semi-final to Rafael Nadal, while it is his third career Masters final.

The Spaniard will re-claim the top rank from Novak Djokovic with victory in the decider where he will face in-form fifth seed and 2021 US Open winner Daniil Medvedev who beat Frances Tiafoe 7-5 7-6 (7-4) on Saturday in 108 minutes.

Alcaraz had missed three months due to abdominal and hamstring injuries but continued his excellent return in Indian Wells, after winning the Argentina Open and making the Rio Open decider last month.

The top seed hit 26-14 winners against Sinner, including 17 on his forehand, while he capitalised on the Italian's 50 per cent first-serve percentage, attacking his second serve and converting two of six break points.

Medvedev earned a berth in his maiden Indian Wells decider with his triumph over 14th seed Tiafoe extending his winning streak to 19 games.

The Russian is into an ATP Tour-best fourth final for the season, following victories at the Dubai Tennis Championships, Qatar Open and Rotterdam Open in February.

While Alcaraz is within one victory of the number one ranking, Medvedev can become the first male since Andy Murray in 2016 to win four titles in five weeks.

Medvedev even let slip seven match points against Tiafoe and was broken twice when serving for the match at 5-4 and 6-5 before converting his first match point in the tie-break.

The world number six has maintained his top form despite rolling his ankle in his fourth-round win over Alexander Zverev, showing no signs of injury since.

Iga Swiatek is unsure whether she will be fit to defend her Miami Open title after a rib injury hampered the world number one during a semi-final defeat at the Indian Wells Open.

A savage 6-2 6-2 thrashing at the hands of Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina came while Swiatek was suffering physically.

She was emphatically outplayed, and how much of a factor the injury was is unclear, with tests in the coming days set to dictate what happens next for the 21-year-old Pole.

Swiatek was asked about what Rybakina did well and said: "I feel like it's still more me and my mistakes. I'm also not feeling 100 per cent physically. I have a little discomfort in my rib, and we're going to consult with the medical team."

She said she would use the days leading up to next week's event in Miami as a chance to recover.

"In terms of the rib, we'll see, because I still have to run some tests and see what's going on. I don't know yet," she said after Friday's defeat.

"Honestly, I haven't played with a lot of injuries. It's a new situation for me. The last time I played with an injury, the only tournament I can remember, is Roland Garros in 2019, so I was pretty young.

"Now it's a totally different level. I have been playing, so there has been some fatigue all the time. I would say it's kind of constant, but I'm pretty sure that tomorrow or the day after will help in recovery."

Asked whether it was a problem that could prevent her playing in Miami, Swiatek said: "No, for now I'm preparing to play, but we'll see what the next days are going to tell us. I don't know yet."

Swiatek last year won both Indian Wells and Miami to complete the 'Sunshine Double' in the early stages of a 37-match winning run that ended with a third-round Wimbledon defeat to Alize Cornet.

While Swiatek seeks medical expertise, Rybakina goes on to face Aryna Sabalenka in Sunday's Indian Wells trophy match, a repeat of the Australian Open final that Sabalenka won to earn a first grand slam singles title.

It is the third time this century that the WTA Indian Wells showpiece match has featured the same line-up as the Melbourne Park final after 2000 (Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis) and 2012 (Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka).

Elena Rybakina is through to her second final of the year after upsetting world number one Iga Swiatek 6-2 6-2 in Friday's Indian Wells Open semi-final.

Rybakina, 25, added to her terrific recent head-to-head record against the 21-year-old Polish superstar, now with three consecutive straight sets victories since December.

The reigning Wimbledon champion, who became Kazakhstan's first grand slam winner, was all over Swiatek's serve from the jump.

The top seed ended up winning just 42 per cent (18-of-43) of her total service points, with Rybakina converting all five of her break point opportunities.

After taking the opening frame, Rybakina slammed the door shut by running out to a 5-0 lead in the second, hitting five aces in the set while Swiatek had just one for the match.

Rybakina will next face world number two Aryna Sabalenka in the decider after the Belarusian made similar light work of world number seven Maria Sakkari.

Sabalenka, who has dropped only one set en route to the final, needed just 85 minutes to advance 6-2 6-3. She created 10 break point opportunities compared to Sakkari's four, with the Greek talent not able to pull another rabbit out of the hat after four consecutive three-set victories.

It will be the sixth overall meeting between Rybakina and Sabalenka, and a rematch from the Australian Open final, when Sabalenka took it 4-6 6-3 6-4 to extend her head-to-head advantage to 4-1.

Novak Djokovic has been ruled out of the Miami Open after tournament organisers "exhausted all the options" in an effort to secure him a travel exemption.

The 22-time grand slam winner withdrew from the Indian Wells Open as he is unable to play in the United States.

He is not vaccinated against COVID-19, which remains a requirement of international travellers, but Djokovic had hoped to be granted special permission to enter the country.

US tennis authorities and a number of politicians also expressed support for an exception being made for the 35-year-old Djokovic, with US president Joe Biden urged to reconsider policy.

Even last week, Serbian superstar Djokovic was clinging to hopes of playing the Miami Open, which he has won six times.

However, tournament director James Blake told Tennis Channel there is no chance of that happening, despite extensive efforts.

"Obviously, we're one of the premier tournaments in the world, we'd like to have the best players that can play," said Blake, a former world number four.

"We did all that we could. We tried to talk to the government, but that's out of our hands. We tried and he wasn't able to play."

Blake said he was in the same position as Indian Wells tournament director Tommy Haas, being unable to influence government-level decisions.

"We tried to get Novak Djokovic to be allowed to get an exemption, but that wasn't able to happen," Blake said. "We'd love to have him, and he’s our greatest champion, won it six times here.

"Unfortunately, that's way above my pay grade."

Blake added: "We exhausted all the options we knew of. Hopefully Novak will be back this year and hopefully he will be back for all the later events in the States including Cincinnati and the US Open."

World number two Carlos Alcaraz is through to the Indian Wells Open semi-final after defeating 11th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4 6-4 on Thursday.

Alcaraz, 19, continued his terrific start to 2023, now boasting 12 wins from his first 13 matches of the year after winning the Argentina Open and reaching the Rio Open final.

But despite the Spaniard's status as the game's top young talent, he came into the contest winless in his three previous meetings against Canada's Auger-Aliassime.

What separated the two this time around was Alcaraz's ability to keep the ball in play. He produced 26 winners with only eight unforced errors, and while Auger-Aliassime was not much worse (24 winners, 13 unforced errors), he committed six double faults.

He is now one match away from reaching the third Masters 1000 final of his career, having won both the Miami Open and the Madrid Open this past season.

Meeting him in the semi-final will be Italy's Jannik Sinner after he prevailed 6-4 4-6 6-4 against hometown hero Taylor Fritz.

In the seesawing contest, Sinner narrowly edged the total point count 94-86 – with both committing exactly 17 unforced errors – but the Italian created nine break point chances compared to Fritz's three.

Since the beginning of the Australian Open, Sinner sports a 14-2 record, with the only losses in that span coming against world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas and world number six Daniil Medvedev.

It will be the sixth meeting between Sinner and Alcaraz, with the Spanish teen taking in a 3-2 edge after a five-set thriller at the US Open.

Top seed Iga Swiatek had little trouble navigating the challenge of Sorana Cirstea in Thursday's Indian Wells Open quarter-final, cruising to a 6-2 6-3 victory.

The world number one started brilliantly by breaking the unseeded Romanian's serve on her first opportunity, and despite Cirstea responding, Swiatek rattled off the final four games of the opening set.

The 21-year-old Polish phenom would not stop there as she continued on a streak of eight consecutive games to jump ahead 4-0 in the second set, finishing the job in 83 minutes.

It is Swiatek's third consecutive tournament where she has made it to at least the semi-finals, having won the Qatar Open and reached the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships in February.

The last time she did not reach the semi-final in a tournament was in January's Australian Open, when she was sent packing in the fourth round by Elena Rybakina.

She will get a chance to avenge that defeat in the semi-final after Rybakina set up the rematch by getting the better of Karolina Muchova 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-4.

Rybakina, who became the first Kazakhstan-born player to reach the semi-final of a WTA1000 event since 2009, had a much more competitive affair. 

In the razor-thin battle, both Rybakina and Muchova won exactly 106 out of 212 points, but the reigning Wimbledon champion and Australian Open finalist produced 14 break point opportunities to the Czech's six.

It will be the fourth overall meeting between Swiatek and Rybakina, and after the Pole took their first clash, Rybakina responded with back-to-back straight-sets victories.

The winner will earn a spot in the final, where they will meet the victor of Maria Sakkari and Aryna Sabalenka.

Tennis will never see a "big three" with the quality of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer again, believes Juan Martin del Potro.

The trio, who have combined for a total of 64 men's singles grand slam titles across a near-two-decade-long period of dominance, have come to define the sport's modern era.

Federer retired last year and while Nadal and Djokovic continue, both are well into the twilight of their careers, despite astonished continued success.

Del Potro, the 2009 US Open winner, also retired in 2022, and he thinks the trio's dominance is unlikely to be replicated going forward, even though he sees Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune as three players who could possibly go on to enjoy great success.

"The only thing I lacked was being number one [in the ATP Rankings]," he said. "It was always a dream, and I always worked for it. I never made it because there was either Federer, or Nadal, or Djokovic.

"When I look at the rankings and the years of my career and who was fighting to be number one I see that it was beautiful that these were the ones who didn't let me make it, this dream."

"One day, the big three will end. We have Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner [and] Holger Rune, other young people who will mark the circuit.

"But for me, [for] many years, [it was] the big three. There will not be anything similar."

Del Potro reached a career high-mark of third in the ATP Rankings in 2018, with Andy Murray the only man other than Nadal, Federer or Djokovic to top the charts between 2005 and 2021.

Maria Sakkari prioritised a pedicure after earning a shot at Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in the Indian Wells Open semi-finals.

Thursday was to be a recovery and re-setting day for Greek Sakkari, one of the stars of the Netflix 'Break Point' series, who is through to her third semi-final of the year.

She booked a last-four spot thanks to a stunning fightback from a set and a break down to Petra Kvitova, but Sakkari's efforts this week in California have left her with bleeding toes.

It is hardly surprising, considering she has taken a long route through to the semi-finals, reeling off four consecutive three-set wins.

Sakkari has lost the first set in three of those four matches but found a way to battle back, but she will want to start strongly against a dialled-in Sabalenka.

After coming through 4-6 7-5 6-1 against Kvitova, Sakkari said in an on-court interview: "I need a pedicure because my feet are bleeding so badly."

Asked about that comment later, she said in a press conference: "It's just my nails. It's not ideal, but nothing bad, like I can properly play and run and everything, but it's not nice."

It sounds far from pleasant, yet Sakkari fights on, aware that despite not playing her top-level tennis so far this fortnight, resilience has pulled her through.

"It is strange, but at the same time, I'm just telling myself, look, you're not playing your best tennis and you're still winning and beating amazing players," Sakkari said.

"By just surviving and just finding ways, eventually I'm sure that my game is going to get better. I really want to see how it's gonna be when I will start feeling good with my game.

"But of course I don't want to say that like I was playing s*** and I won. That's not the case. That's also very bad for the opponent."

Considering Kvitova is a two-time Wimbledon champion and a 29-time singles title winner on tour, Sakkari ranked Wednesday's win as one to log alongside her finest victories.

"For me coming back against her, now that she's playing good, now that she has beaten so many good players, it's a bloody good win," Sakkari said. "The fact I found a way was one of the best comebacks of my life."

Sakkari trails 4-3 in the career head-to-head against Sabalenka despite winning their last two encounters, both at the WTA Finals in each of the past two seasons.

They have not faced each other since Sabalenka became a first-time grand slam champion in Melbourne at the start of the year.

Sakkari was runner-up at Indian Wells 12 months ago, losing to Iga Swiatek in the final, and she has designs on beating Sabalenka to earn another crack at the title match.

Asked about the Belarusian, Sakkari said: "She's an amazing player. I knew that she was gonna win a grand slam. It actually came, and I was very happy for her.

"She's very fun to be around. It's going to be very, very tough, because she's feeling the ball really well."

Australian champion Aryna Sabalenka made light work of sixth seed Coco Gauff in a dominant straight-sets win to clinch her spot in the Indian Wells Open semi-finals on Wednesday.

Sabalenka improved her 2023 season record to 16-1 with a 6-4 6-0 win over the 19-year-old American in only 65 minutes.

The Belarusian will face seventh seed Maria Sakkari in the semi-finals after the Greek edged out 15th seed Petra Kvitova in three sets in the evening quarter-final.

Sabalenka will be tough to beat, however, maintaining her strong season form against Gauff who had little answers despite boasting a 3-1 head-to-head record coming into the clash.

The second seed crushed 18 winners compared to Gauff's 12, while she committed 14 fewer unforced errors across the match.

Sabalenka opened up a 2-0 lead in the first set and maintained that buffer to take the opening frame, before a 25-minute second-set bagel underlined her dominance.

"I feel a little bit different on the court this year," Sabalenka said after the match. "I feel like I'm a little bit different player. I wasn't really focusing on the last matches against her. I was focused on myself."

Sakkari came from behind to defeat two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova 4-6 7-5 6-1 in two hours and 17 minutes.

The Greek, who finished as last year's Indian Wells Open runner-up, was broken twice in the first set and dropped serve again in the opening game of the second frame, before finding a way to flip the match on its head.

Sakkari broke back for 3-3 in the second set, winning 12 of the final 15 games for victory in an impressive turnaround. All four of Sakkari's matches in Indian Wells this fortnight have gone to three sets.

Fifth seed Daniil Medvedev brushed off an ankle concern and booked his spot in the Indian Wells Open semi-finals after a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Wednesday.

The 2021 US Open champion triumphed 6-3 7-5 over the Spaniard in one hour and 44 minutes, securing his 18th straight victory.

Medvedev will face Frances Tiafoe in the semi-finals after the American beat Briton Cameron Norrie 6-4 6-4 in the other quarter-final in that half of the draw.

The Russian had suffered an ankle injury during Tuesday's last-16 win over Alexander Zverev but played on to clinch a hard-fought three-set win.

But Medvedev alleviated any injury concerns, although he required treatment on a bloody right thumb in the second set while escaping from 0-40 at 3-4.

"I'm actually happy the ankle didn't hurt much because when I warmed up, it was hurting pretty bad," Medvedev said post-match.

"I knew I was going to play, I knew I was going to try. But I couldn't move well on the warm-up. I tried to warm it up as long as possible, took one painkiller so that probably helped. I was actually feeling better and better during the match."

Medvedev raced to a 3-0 lead in the first set and never looked back, although Davidovich Fokina fought hard in the second frame but missed his big chance in the eighth game.

The pair both hit 24 winners for the match, but the Spaniard's 24 unforced errors compared to Medvedev's 12 was a key difference.

Tiafoe, who made last year's US Open last four, awaits after needing only one hour and 25 minutes to eliminate 2021 Indian Wells champion Norrie and reach his maiden ATP Masters 1000 semi-final.

Norrie had been on an eight-match winning run but the American hit 22 winners and only gave up nine unforced errors.

Rafael Nadal is eyeing up his comeback from a hip injury at next month's Monte Carlo Masters, with tournament director David Massey hopeful the Spaniard will feature.

The 22-time grand slam champion has been struggling with a left hip issue that contributed to his second round exit at the Australian Open in January.

Nadal pulled out of hard-court contests at the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open as he continued to recover from the problem.

He could return on clay, his favoured surface, with Massey optimistic the 36-year-old will be fit in time to feature at the event, which begins on April 8.

"Rafa was the first [player] to be registered," he said in statement. "He really wants to play at the Monte Carlo Masters.

"He is giving himself every chance to take part in the tournament he's so fond of."

Nadal is the event's all-time record title holder, having triumphed on 11 occasions, with an Open Era record streak of eight consecutive successes between 2005 and 2012.

He last succeeded in 2018, with a straight-sets victory over Kei Nishikori, though various disrupted campaigns have prevented him from mounting another successful bid since.

As a key stop in preparations for the French Open, it has helped form the bedrock of his clay court success over the years.

With this year's event at Roland Garros set to start on May 28, Nadal will be out to add to his 14 singles titles there too, having claimed victory once again in 2022 with a triumph against Casper Ruud in the final.

Mikel Arteta named Rafael Nadal as his number one idol and joked he hopes the tennis great chooses to attend an Arsenal game over Tottenham.

The Arsenal manager was asked to name the person – sports star or otherwise – he admires most in wake of Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola revealing Hollywood A-lister Julia Roberts was one of his idols.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of Thursday's Europa League last-16 second leg against Sporting CP, Arteta said: "Off the top of my head, Nadal is someone I've admired for a long, long time.

"His mentality, what he's won, the way he's done it, the way he's bounced back – he's top of my list for sure."

Guardiola, who named Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan as his other idols, quipped he felt upset that Roberts decided to visit City's fierce rivals Manchester United when she visited the city seven years ago.

Asked if he hoped Real Madrid supporter Nadal would opt for Arsenal over fellow north London side Tottenham, Arteta said: "I hope so."

Arteta had every right to be in high spirits when speaking to reporters on Wednesday, with his side five points clear of City at the top of the Premier League after easing to a 3-0 win over Fulham on Sunday.

Arsenal's focus now switches to the Europa League and the visit of Sporting, who they are locked at 2-2 with after last week's entertaining first leg in Portugal.

Rather than seeing the match as a distraction ahead of facing Crystal Palace in their final league match before the international break, Arteta is relishing playing in front of a large home crowd in a European competition.

"We haven't had a big European night for three years," he said. "Hopefully it will be a really good atmosphere and we can enjoy it.

"We know Sporting are a good team and they'll provide a challenge."

Much like ahead of the first leg, Arteta was unwilling to give much away in terms of team selection, but he did provide a positive update on Gabriel Jesus after the striker's return from a four-month lay-off against Fulham.

"It was great to see him back. You can feel the happiness of everyone around him - we missed him and now he's back," Arteta said.

"We have to manage his minutes, his involvement. He's feeling good and every day he's training he says his sensations are better so that's really positive.

"As for the team, we're looking to do the same as we did in Lisbon but we know we're going to have to do better than we did last week."

Coco Gauff celebrated her 19th birthday by releasing a newly discovered video of herself singing and dancing at the US Open 11 years ago.

Gauff could not let loose quite the same this week, as she battled through to the Indian Wells Open quarter-finals on Tuesday, coming back in the decisive set to beat Rebecca Peterson 6-3 1-6 6-4.

The world number six will be hoping to remain unbeaten as a 19-year-old when she faces second seed Aryna Sabalenka in California, where a win for the home favourite would have everyone jumping for joy like in 2012, when Gauff was filmed singing and dancing to Carly Rae Jepsen's hit single Call Me Maybe at Flushing Meadows.

"I think that was the only Kids' Day," Gauff recalled.

"But I remembered it because Call Me Maybe was trending, and I knew that video existed.

"I thought that my mom would have it because she keeps track of everything, but it was really my dad who has it, so that's why we never found the video because I never thought to ask him."

An eight-year-old Gauff at the Arthur Ashe Stadium would have had no idea that she would reach the competition's quarter-finals just a decade later, and she is now ranked seventh in the world.

Her rise has continued at Indian Wells, with a last-eight appearance already her best-ever run in the event.

Gauff added: "I just love that video and just the whole full-circle moment.

"Call Me Maybe was the song at that time. Even now I still love when they play it.

"I don't know whose number I was trying to get, I think I was eight years old. But I'm going to use that pickup line now!"