Aryna Sabalenka ties Maria Sharapova's record at Indian Wells win

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka has achieved another major feat after her triumph at Indian Wells last night, Sunday, March 8, 2026.

The tennis GOAT Sabalenka defeated world seed no. 35, Jaqueline Cristian 6-4, 6-1.

The victory marked the 23rd winning streak for the top seed, who has crushed an opponent ranked outside the Top 20.

The Belarussian star won 16 of 17 points in her first four service games—the only miss being a double fault.

But serving for the set at 5-3, nerves seemed to enter the equation, two double faults ultimately cost her the game.

For the unversed, Sunday’s match was the first career clash between Sabalenka and Cristian, and the top seed came out firing.

Coming fresh from the engagement buzz, Sabalenka, who has not been featured in the two WTA 1000s in the Middle East, appeared calm and kept her composure in her two straight-sets matches after a break of five weeks.

The latest win sent Sabalenka past Maria Sharapova for the seventh most WTA 1000 match victories (137) since the format was first introduced in 2009, which means Sharapova was already halfway through her career when they started.

Only Victoria Azarenka (209) has more on the current WTA roaster.

She was only defeated by Elena Rybakina in a total of 14 matches she played in 2026 so far.

The world number one is defending 500 ranking points at Indian Wells after reaching the final at last year’s event.

Sabalenka’s Sunday victory has set up a Tuesday match against Naomi Osaka, both are four-time Grand Slam singles winners.

Both have played only once at the US Open in the fourth round eight years ago.