Sabalenka downs Muchova to win WTA Finals opener

Aryna Sabalenka returns to Karolina Muchova on her way to an opening victory at the WTA Finals in Indian Wells (MATTHEW STOCKMAN)Aryna Sabalenka battled past Karolina Muchova in straight sets to make a winning start at the season-ending WTA Finals in Indian Wells on Monday.Former world number one Sabalenka was forced to dig deep before finally prevailing 7-6 (7/2), 7-5 in just under two hours.Second-seeded Sabalenka is chasing her first ever WTA Finals victory after suffering defeats in the 2022 and 2025 finals.The four-time Grand Slam champion from Belarus looked to be in trouble after conceding a break of serve to go 5-4 down in the opening set.But Sabalenka broke back immediately for 5-5 and subsequently went on to hold her nerve in the tie-break 7-2 to seize the early initiative.Both players struggled on serve in the second set, with Sabalenka suffering her fourth break as she served for the match at 5-4 up.Crucially though Sabalenka responded to that stumble by breaking back immediately to lead 6-5 and she made no mistake when serving for the match again, wrapping up victory when Czech opponent Muchova netted a backhand.Sabalenka and Muchova's group two duel was the first of two matches on Monday, with third seed Mirra Andreeva facing Elina Svitolina later in the day.This year's WTA Finals were scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia but in July were moved to Indian Wells after US military strikes on Iran in February and the subsequent war in the region.rcw/nf