Aryna Sabalenka spills Indian Wells party plans as she flies straight to next tournament | Tennis | Sport

Aryna Sabalenka doesn’t have much time to celebrate her maiden Indian Wells title, as the world No. 1 immediately has to jet to Miami for the next WTA 1000 tournament, where she is the defending champion. But the 27-year-old is still planning to celebrate after a fortnight to remember in the desert.

It’s been a huge few weeks for Sabalenka. First, she and her team welcomed a new puppy, Ash, into the fold. Then, her boyfriend, Georgios Frangulis, proposed to her a couple of days before the tournament started. And she’s now lifted the shiny – and very heavy – crystal star trophy for the very first time. So she’ll be celebrating accordingly.

The party will have to happen on the plane, as Sabalenka and her team are flying out on Sunday evening, hours after her three-set triumph over Elena Rybakina. But the world No. 1 already knows exactly what she wants to do.

“Well, I guess a couple espresso martinis, probably, and Five Guys to go. Basically, that’s why I’m never in good shape, because it’s Five Guys and espresso martinis in celebration! Yeah, I guess that’s it. Maybe a couple drinks just to cheer ourselves,” she laughed.

“And that’s it, because the schedule is really tight and we’re on to the next one, and I cannot relax too much, because I’m defending champion there, and also, it’s Miami. I love being there, playing there, so I want to do well there, as well. So I will try to stay loose but focused. I guess it’s, again, going into balancing everything, so I will try to balance it the best way possible.”

While Sabalenka has a very quick turnaround time, the world No. 1 will no doubt be happy to get out of the heat in Indian Wells. She dunked her head into an ice cooler after clinching a 3-6 6-3 7-6(6) victory as temperatures reached the mid-30Cs on Sunday, and then struggled to lift the trophy.

She added: “This trophy is so heavy. To be honest, I was so done. I had cramps after the match. It was so hot. The heat was like it was boiling hot out there, I feel like just coming from the court, you know. I was, like, come on, I need the good picture. I’ve got to lift it up. Yeah, I took all of the power left and I did it.”

It was an important victory for Sabalenka, who, ahead of the championship match, said she was “so done” with losing big finals. Rybakina beat her in January’s Australian Open final, coming back from an early break down in the decider. That almost happened again in Indian Wells – Sabalenka was broken while serving for a match, and then had to save a championship point in the tiebreak.

“As I said before going to this final, I am so tired of losing these big finals. I mean, don’t get me wrong, players were playing incredible tennis, but still, I managed to fight through and to get my opportunity, and I didn’t use it so many times,” Sabalenka said after coming out on top after two-and-a-half hours.

“So in this final, the way I started the first set and then the first game of the second set, I was really not happy with that, and I was just trying to find something, find a way to get this win for myself, to feel more confident going into the next final. So I guess that’s why.”

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