World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka ended No. 5 Madison Keys' 16-match win streak with a dominant 6-0, 6-1 victory in the BNP Paribas Open semifinals. In a rematch of January's Australian Open final, Sabalenka rolled in the 51-minute match to hand Keys her first loss since Auckland. 

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"That Australian Open match was really heartbreaking for me," Sabalenka said, "and I really needed some time to recover after that. And if I would lose today again, it would get in my head and I didn't want that to happen.

"I was really focused, so I was just really hungry to get this win against Madison."

Sabalenka's victory puts her into her second Indian Wells final after finishing runner-up to Elena Rybakina in 2023. She will face 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva on Sunday after the No. 9 seed advanced to her second consecutive WTA 1000 final by toppling defending champion Iga Swiatek in three sets. 

Indian Wells is Sabalenka's third Hologic WTA Tour final of the season, after winning her 18th career title at Brisbane and finishing runner-up in Melbourne. It is also her 10th final since the start of 2024, the most of any player over that span. 

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In her first meeting against a Top 10 player this season, Sabalenka overwhelmed a misfiring Keys to play a near-perfect match in the wind. In the cool, blustery conditions, Sabalenka played disciplined baseline tennis and maintained rally pressure to force 21 errors from the American. Sabalenka won the first 11 games before Keys finally held serve to get on the board. 

"Well, I needed this revenge badly," Sabalenka said, "so I was really focused, and I think tactically I played really great tennis. I would say that today was a bit opposite. Like I played great at the beginning, and she kind of lost her rhythm and she couldn't play her best tennis. I think that's why the match went so fast.

"So at the Australian Open, I played really bad and she played great. It's tennis."

Sabalenka struck 14 winners to Keys' 10, while hitting 10 unforced errors. Keys bowed out with 18 unforced errors. Sabalenka's victory improved her record against Keys to 5-2. 

On Sunday, Sabalenka will look to capture her 19th WTA title and second of the season. She has not lost a set over the fortnight, with wins over McCartney Kessler, Lucia Bronzetti, Sonay Kartal, Liudmila Samsonova and Keys. She owns a 4-1 record against Andreeva, most recently knocking out the teen from the fourth round of the Australian Open.