Second seed Aryna Sabalenka beat seventh seed Karolina Muchova 7-6 (2), 7-5 in 1 hour 53 minutes on Monday in the opening match of Group 2 at the WTA Finals in Indian Wells.

It was her fifth straight win in her opening match at the event, since a defeat by Paula Badosa on her debut in 2021. Only Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, with six each, have had a longer run since 2003. Her 13th win at the WTA Finals also equals Mary Pierce’s record for a player who never won the title.

How Sabalenka beat Muchova

Muchova led twice in the first set, breaking for 3-2 and again for 5-4. Sabalenka broke back both times, then had two set points on the Czech’s serve at 6-5. Muchova saved them and held, but Sabalenka took the tie-break 7-2. Muchova had won every tie-break she had played this season.

The second set opened with three breaks in a row, and Sabalenka led 5-3. She was broken when serving for the match at 5-4, but broke again straight away and served it out on her second match point.

There were nine breaks of serve in all, five of them for Sabalenka. She made seven double faults, but won 75 per cent of her first-serve points (33 of 44).

Sabalenka levels the head-to-head

Muchova led their head-to-head 3-2 before the match. Sabalenka has now won their last two meetings, after a straight-sets win in the Brisbane semi-finals in January.

Sabalenka, playing her sixth consecutive WTA Finals, now has a 13-9 record at the event. She lost the final in 2022 and 2025. The 200 points for the win take her 379 points clear of Mirra Andreeva in the race for the year-end No. 2 ranking, before Andreeva’s first match.

Muchova, 30, is making her WTA Finals debut. She had qualified in 2023, but withdrew with a wrist injury.

WTA Finals Group 2: provisional standings

In the other Group 2 match on Monday, Mirra Andreeva plays Elina Svitolina. The top two reach the semi-finals on Saturday. Sabalenka will play Andreeva and Svitolina in her next two matches.