Quote of the Day: Aryna Sabalenka says she “needed this revenge” after Madison Keys rout

As Aryna Sabalenka opened up a 6-0, 5-0 lead against Madison Keys in the BNP Paribas Open semifinals on Friday, one thought kept going through through her mind:

“I was thinking, yeah, I wish I would play like that in Australia!”

Sabalenka, the top seed in Indian Wells, finally got her revenge after the American defeated her in Melbourne at the start of the season. Going for an Australian Open threepeat, Sabalenka ran up against an inspired Keys, and the No. 19 seed prevailed 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in the final to win her first major title.

Read More: Ruthless Aryna Sabalenka storms past Madison Keys, 6-0, 6-1, in semifinals of Indian Wells

It was a different story in the California desert, where the memory of that defeat seemed to power Sabalenka to another stratospheric level: She dropped just one game on her way to victory in just 52 minutes.

“I was hungry… That Australian Open match was really heart(breaking) for me, and I really needed some time to recover after that,” Sabalenka explained afterward. “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.”

Q. How do you explain that? You've played such tight matches with her, and then something like that.?

ARYNA SABALENKA: Well, I needed this revenge badly, so I was really focused, and I think tactically I played really great tennis.

I would say that today was a bit opposite (to the Australian Open final.) 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, I played really bad and she played great. It's just, like, tennis. (smiling) Let's just call it tennis.

Tennis will present Sabalenka with a fresh challenge in the final, where she will face the red-hot No. 9 seed Mirra Andreeva.

The 17-year-old Russian arrived in Indian Wells as one to watch after claiming her first WTA 1000 title in Doha—a run that included stunners over No. 6 seed Elena Rybakina and No. 2 Iga Swiatek. She repeated the feat in Indian Wells, routing Rybakina 6-1, 6-2 in the fourth round and, on Friday, taking down Swiatek again for a 7-6 (1), 1-6, 6-3 win.

Read More: Mirra Andreeva beats Iga Swiatek again for 11th straight win, Indian Wells final berth

Now, Sabalenka will aim to halt Andreeva’s progress as the teenager seeks to extend her winning streak and fight for a second-straight WTA 1000 crown.

“I passed this stage of thinking about the age of my opponent,” Sabalenka said of Andreeva. “I still feel like I'm 18. It's just so awkward for me to think that I'm 26 and 27 this year, and she's 17 and is, like, just two years older than my sister.”

“I look at my sister as, like, a kid,” she added, laughing. “I remember her being this little baby. So I look at Mirra and think, oh, my God, I'm so old! Yeah, that's just crazy. I'm depressed right now.”