INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Fueled by healthy displays of trademark baseline power and serving speed, accompanied by sparkles of eclecticism, Aryna Sabalenka today levelled her rivalry with Naomi Osaka at one victory apiece, in 80 minutes earning a 6-2, 6-4 victory in the round of 16 at the BNP Paribas Open.
“Yeah, I’m super happy with the performance today,” said Sabalenka, “the way I brought variety on court, that I made her guess most of the times, and of course happy with the serves, so I felt like it was a great performance for me.”
To say this rivalry is now dead-even is a literal truth and a figurative joke. Imagine two formidable tennis players, born within seven months of one another, who between them have won eight Grand Slam singles titles—but prior to today, had only played each other once. Such was the backdrop for this match between the first-seeded Sabalenka and the 16th-seeded Osaka.
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More than seven years ago, these two met in the round of 16 of the 2018 US Open. Each had just cracked the Top 20. On that Labor Day in New York, Osaka earned a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory and went on to win the first of four majors she’d capture by January 2021. But the tremendous baseline power shown by each in that match triggered expectations that Osaka-Sabalenka would soon enough blossom into the WTA Tour’s next marquee rivalry.
I’d covered that US Open match. As I sat inside Louis Armstrong Stadium and took in so much skill and possibility, it was easy to imagine Osaka and Sabalenka growing old together, perhaps even years later laughing about their first of what at that moment held promise to be dozens of high-stakes encounters.
