Aryna Sabalenka kickstarted her quest for a maiden WTA Finals crown with a 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 victory over Karolina Muchova in her Group 2 opener at Indian Wells.

Coming into Monday's match, Muchova was the only player in this year's WTA Finals field to boast a positive head-to-head record against Sabalenka, at 3-2.

But despite a few shaky moments, Sabalenka edged out a straight-sets victory in one hour and 53 minutes. 

A topsy-turvy opening set saw both players go up by a break before immediately relinquishing the lead, and Muchova squandered two set points against the serve at 6-5 up.

And Sabalenka made those reprieves count in the tie-break, only losing one point on her own serve and putting together a streak of four consecutive points to take it.

The second followed a similar story as Sabalenka broke in two straight games, either side of having her own serve broken, before giving up control of the set when things looked to be done and dusted as Muchova got it back to 5-5.

But on this occasion, there was no need for a breaker as Sabalenka sent a crushing forehand winner past Muchova to break again and earn a second chance to serve out the match, one she would not pass up.

Indian Wells Aryna Sabalenka @SabalenkaA | #FAGEWTAFinals https://t.co/8yTQyoznUM

— wta (@WTA) November 9, 2026

Sabalenka keeps up record of strong starts

Sabalenka is appearing at her sixth consecutive edition of the WTA Finals, the longest such run since Agnieszka Radwanska enjoyed her own six-year appearance streak from 2011 to 2016.

And, since losing to Paula Badosa on her 2021 bow, Sabalenka has started each of her last five campaigns with a victory.

This was her 13th victory at the tournament overall, bringing her level with Mary Pierce for the most WTA Finals wins among players to never lift the trophy, since the competition's 1972 inception. 

Since the round-robin format returned in 2003, only Maria Sharapova (17) and Serena Williams (14) have more group-stage match wins than Sabalenka's 11 (tied with Caroline Wozniacki) – the key now will be translating that form into the knockouts, assuming she escapes a pool that also contains Mirra Andreeva and Elina Svitolina. 

Sabalenka is at least competing for the trophy in surroundings she is fond of, though, after she beat Elena Rybakina for the Indian Wells title earlier this year.