"It was me against me" - Aryna Sabalenka blames herself for Indian Wells final loss to Mirra Andreeva

Mirra Andreeva continued her domination of the WTA Tour on Sunday (March 16) as she downed World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in three sets to lift the 2025 BNP Paribas Open title. Following her loss, the Belarusian suggested that she dropped the championship match mostly due to her own mistakes.

Andreeva won her 12th match on the trot in Indian Wells on Sunday, overcoming a set deficit to defeat 2023 finalist Sabalenka 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in just over two hours. The three-time Major winner's defeat in the Californian desert marks her second loss in a big tournament final this year following her 2025 Australian Open heartbreak to Madison Keys.

During her press conference afterward, Aryna Sabalenka was asked to give thoughts on how much her younger opponent impacted her performance during their encounter. In response, the 26-year-old maintained that her unforced errors contributed substantially to her loss.

"Honestly, was me against me. I mean, I made a lot of unforced errors on important points, and I just let her play a little bit better," Aryna Sabalenka told the media in Indian Wells on Sunday. "Yeah, at the beginning, everything was going quite straightforward, and then I just made a couple mistakes. She kind of like believed in herself. After that, I started playing much worse, and I was just trying to find my rhythm back but didn't work this time."

The World No. 1 also fielded questions regarding the similarities between her BNP Paribas Open and Australian Open title-match losses. She replied that her level in both defeats was starkly different while insisting that her level dropped off for "a couple important games" during Sunday's final in Indian Wells.

"No, I mean, Australian Open, I played so bad. I played like it was a joke, honestly, my level of the game," she said. "Today I think I just kind of like dropped my level in couple important games in the second set and then in the third set. Overall it was great tennis. Just like couple moments where I have to improve."

Before their Indian Wells meeting, Sabalenka had led the 17-year-old Andreeva by a margin of 4-1 in their tour-level meetings. Moreover, she had come out on top of both of their matches this year in Brisbane and Melbourne.

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Aryna Sabalenka improves to 22-5 win/loss record after Indian Wells runner-up finish

Aryna Sabalenka has dropped her last two big finals | Image Source: Getty

Aryna Sabalenka finely began her 2025 season as she secured her 18th career title at the Brisbane International in January. The Belarusian then reached her fourth career Major final at the Australian Open but was denied silverware by an in-form Madison Keys.

Following her Australian Open final loss, the 26-year-old endured a rough patch on the WTA Tour with second-round and third-round exits in Qatar and Dubai, respectively. However, now that the World No. 1 has found a rich vein of form in Indian Wells, she will be hopeful of another good showing at the Miami Open - which begins this week.