IndianWells

SABALENKA & FRITZ WIN TIE BREAK TENS EISENHOWER CUP AT INDIAN WELLS.

Aryna Sabalenka and Taylor Fritz teamed up Tuesday to win the 2023 Eisenhower Cup. The Tie Break Tens event, which for the first time featured mixed doubles, was played before more than 5,000 spectators at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Sabalenka, the reigning Australian Open champion, and Fritz, the defending BNP Paribas Open champion, beat Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz 10-8 in the final.

Sabalenka & Fritz got off to a quick start in the title match, opening up a 5-3 lead. A run of three straight points put the Polish duo ahead, but the eventual champions put together their own streak of three straight points to go back on top. The teams exchanged points before Fritz closed it out with an emphatic ace.

“We’re really happy,” Fritz said. “We played really well against a lot of great players and great teams.”

The 2021 runner-up in Dubai, Fritz was playing Tie Break Tens for a third time. Sabalenka was playing her second Tie Break Tens event having reached the semifinals last year at the Eisenhower Cup.

In the semifinals, Swiatek & Hurkacz built an early lead then comfortably closed it out 10-7 over Maria Sakkari & Stefanos Tsitsipas. Sabalenka & Fritz raced out to an 8-4 edge in their semifinal then held off a surge from Ons Jabeur & Casper Ruud for a 10-8 win.

The first of the quarterfinals was the closest match of the night. Sakkari & Tsitsipas squandered a 6-4 lead and then needed four match points to close out Paula Badosa and Cameron Norrie 12-10. Swiatek & Hurkacz pulled away by winning the final four points in their 10-6 win over Leylah Fernandez & Felix Auger-Aliassime. Jabeur & Ruud were efficient in a 10-5 victory against Jessica Pegula & Tommy Paul while Sabalenka & Fritz were quick to record a 10-4 win over Belinda Bencic and Stan Wawrinka.