The tournament confirmed 2018 champion Osaka's absence on Wednesday, with the Indian Wells Masters scheduled to take place from October 4-17 after the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Osaka's US Open title defence came crashing down in a remarkable 5-7 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 third-round capitulation at the hands of eventual finalist Leylah Fernandez earlier this month.
Up a set and serving for the match at 6-5 on Arthur Ashe Stadium, four-time major champion Osaka lost her cool and composure after throwing her racquet three times in an unsuccessful second-set tie-break.
Amid boos in New York, Japanese star Osaka was also warned after hitting a ball into the crowd at Flushing Meadows.
After the surprise exit, Osaka told reporters she planned to "take a break from playing for a while."
She added: "I feel like for me recently, like, when I win I don't feel happy. I feel more like a relief. And then when I lose, I feel very sad. I don't think that's normal. I didn't really want to cry.
"I feel like… this is very hard to articulate. I feel like I'm kind of at this point where I'm trying to figure out what I want to do, and I honestly don't know when I'm going to play my next tennis match [tearing up]. Sorry."
It comes following a difficult couple of months due to mental health concerns as a result of "long bouts of depression" since winning the 2018 US Open.
Osaka withdrew from May's French Open having won her first-round match, after she was fined and threatened with further punishment – and possible expulsion from the grand slam – for skipping obligatory media duties.
She subsequently pulled out of Wimbledon before returning for the Olympic Games, though she suffered a surprise loss on home soil in Tokyo and was reduced to tears during a news conference in Cincinnati.
Unseeded American Paul triumphed over the German 6-2 4-6 7-6 (7-2) in two hours and 17 minutes, rallying back from a break down in the final set.
Paul hit less winners, 26-21 to Zverev but made less unforced errors 25-19, while his serve and volley game was a key feature.
"I played a really high level today," Paul said during his on-court post-game interview. "The last time I played him, I played well, I put pressure on him so I knew how i wanted to play so I came out and executed him well.
"I played well when it came down to the breaker, so I'm pretty happy with my performance."
Zverev had not played since being expelled in Acapulco after a stunning outburst where he struck his racquet on the umpire chair several times after a doubles defeat.
Ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime was a major casualty, going down to Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 in three hours and 15 minutes.
The Canadian had 36-27 winners but was let down by 43-26 unforced errors, along with converting only two of his 10 break points.
Van de Zandschulp had failed to take three match points in the second set but showed composure to finish the job in the third.
Wild card Andy Murray was also eliminated in the second round, blowing three set points in the first set before going down to 31st seed Alexander Bublik 7-6 (11-9) 6-3 in two hours and one minute.
Last year's Wimbledon runner-up and Italian sixth seed Matteo Berrettini needed more than two hours to get past world number 86 Holger Rune 6-3 4-6 6-4.
Seventh seed Andrey Rublev defeated Dominik Koepfer 7-5 6-4 to extend his win streak to 10 matches, while 11th seed Hubert Hurkacz beat Oscar Otte 6-3 3-6 6-3.
Other seeds to be eliminated were 22nd seed Aslan Karatsev who went down 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 to American Steve Johnson, while 24th seed Marin Cilic lost 6-7 (7-9) 6-3 7-6 (8-6) to Miomir Kecmanovic.
Potapova won the first set in 39 minutes, claiming the only break of the frame in the sixth game, but Pegula responded by breaking immediately in the second.
Despite squaring the match up, the American trailed 3-1 in the third set, only to fight back again and triumph in two hours and 17 minutes.
Pegula will face 15th seed Petra Kvitova after she won a seesawing three-set contest over 24th seed Jelena Ostapenko, 0-6 6-0 6-4.
Ostapenko won the first six games, before Kvitova won the next 10, only for the Latvian to hit back and claim the next four, squaring up the deciding set at 4-4. But two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova held her nerve and won the final two games for victory.
World number two Aryna Sabalenka progressed to the final 16 via walkover after her third-round opponent Lesia Tsurenko withdrew.
The 2023 Australian Open champion will take on 2021 French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova after she toppled Wang Xin 6-2 6-7 (1-7) 6-2.
Seventh seed Maria Sakkari secured victory in a two-and-a-half-hour third-round clash with Anhelina Kalinina, winning 3-6 6-2 6-4.
Two-time major runner-up Karolina Pliskova won 6-1 7-5 over Veronika Kudermetova, progressing into the last eight to face Sakkari.
Sixth seed Coco Gauff, who turns 19 on Monday, eased past 54th-ranked fellow teenager Linda Noskova 6-4 6-3 in one hour and 19 minutes.
Sweden's Rebecca Peterson continued her resurgent form with a 3-6 6-3 6-1 win over Jil Teichman, setting up a clash with Gauff.
The world number one remains unvaccinated against Covid-19 and submitted a request for special permission to play in the two ATP Masters 1000 events in the US, with Miami set to start in under two weeks.
However, the Serbian has already been forced to withdraw from Indian Wells after his request was denied by American officials.
The US is expected to lift its ban on unvaccinated travellers in May but, in a letter to Biden on Tuesday, DeSantis urged them to reconsider their ban on Djokovic ahead of the Miami Open in his state.
"This denial is unfair, unscientific and unacceptable," DeSantis wrote in the letter, which he posted on social media.
"The only thing keeping Mr Djokovic from participating in this tournament is your administration's continued enforcement of a misguided, unscientific, and out-of-date Covid-19 vaccination requirement for foreign guests.
"I urge you to reconsider. It's time to put pandemic politics aside and give the American people what they want - let him play."
Florida senator Marco Rubio and Indian Wells tournament director Tommy Haas are two other figures who have also expressed their desire to see the ban overturned.
Djokovic has been involved in regular controversies as a result of his Covid-19 vaccine stance, previously stating he would be willing to forgo grand slam opportunities rather than have the vaccination.
The 22-time grand slam champion missed the Australian Open last year after being deported over the issue but returned in January 2023 to win his 10th title in Melbourne, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.
Djokovic has not competed in either the Indian Wells or Miami Open since 2019. He has won Indian Wells on five occasions and is a record six-time winner in Miami.
DeSantis has been tipped a potential Republican presidential candidate who could take on Biden at the 2024 election if he can beat Donald Trump to his party's nomination.
The Australian cruised past Baez in one hour and 12 minutes, winning 6-4 6-0 to secure a second-round meeting with another Argentine, 32nd seed Federico Delbonis.
Kyrgios, who had not competed since January's Australian Open, was full of his typical flair, highlighted by 27-15 winners and 12-1 aces.
"When I play good, I'm pretty good," Kyrgios said after the match. "I'm just going back to basics."
Fabio Fognini made history in his 3-6 6-3 6-3 victory over Pablo Andujar, with his 392th career ATP win clocking up the most ever for an Italian, surpassing Adriano Panatta.
Compatriot Lorenzo Musetti also progressed on Thursday with a 6-3 7-5 win over American Marcos Giron.
Rising American talent Jenson Brooksby defeated Roberto Carballes Baena 6-1 6-4, while countryman and wild card Jack Sock brushed aside Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-1 6-1 in little over an hour.
Pedro Martinez made light work of Joao Sousa 6-4 7-5, while Tomas Machec got past Alexei Popyrin 6-3 7-5.
The 18-year-old became the first qualifier in history to win a grand slam when defeating Leylah Fernandez in straight sets in Saturday's final at Flushing Meadows.
Raducanu, ranked 150 by the WTA before beginning her three-week long tournament, did not drop a single set across her 10 matches.
That victory in New York capped a life-changing couple of months for Raducanu, who also reached the last 16 of Wimbledon in her only other grand slam appearance before withdrawing due to medical reasons.
After spending a few days away from the court and taking in some of the sights the Big Apple has to offer, the Briton is ready to start preparing for her next tournament.
"I have a few days' rest and recovery," Raducanu, who became the first British female to win a major tournament since Virginia Wade on home soil at Wimbledon 44 years ago, told CNBC's Closing Bell programme.
"I think it was needed after the last seven weeks but then I am straight back to training and hungry to get better and come back out and play some more tournaments."
Raducanu was originally due to take part in qualifying for the Chicago Fall Tennis Classic later this month, but she may instead wait for next month's delayed Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where a wildcard entry is likely.
"After the US Open I wanted to give myself this week to completely switch off from tennis because it's been an extremely intense but rewarding seven weeks," she told the WTA's official website.
"But I've worked very hard to finish on such a high with the US Open, a whole week off was needed.
"I know I'll get back to work probably Monday or early next week to get back to training again. Schedule-wise, I'm not sure. Maybe Indian Wells, I don't know. I'm going back to London before my next tournament for sure."
The 18-year-old's 10-match winning run came to an abrupt halt at the Indian Wells Open – just her fifth tour-level event – as Sasnovich won in straight sets.
Sasnovich is ranked 100th in the world, but the 27-year-old has 16 career victories over opponents in the top 20, with Raducanu ranking 17th, and six over those in the top 10.
Raducanu cites the experience gap between herself and Sasnovich as a major factor in her defeat and believes that the loss can be taken as a positive lesson.
"I'm still very, very new to the tour," Raducanu said. "I think that experience just comes from playing week in, week out and experiencing all these different things. I'm kind of glad that what happened today happened, so I can learn and take it as a lesson so going forward I'll just have more experienced banked.
"[Sasnovich's] been on tour, probably been 4-2 down like hundreds of times whereas I've been 4-2 up... it's my third WTA tournament this year. [Experience] will come in time. Just got to not rush it and keep going and get my head back to the drawing board really.
"I didn't go in there putting any pressure on myself because in my mind I'm so inexperienced that I'm just taking it all in. You're going to have highs, and you're always going to have some lows where you're disappointed with how you performed.
"Aliaksandra played an extremely great match. You could tell she's more experienced than me. She went out there and executed her game plan better than I did. She deserved to win that.
"I think it's going to take me time to adjust, really, to what's going on. For the bigger picture, I'll be thanking this moment. That's the lesson I think, that you can easily get sucked into being so focused on the result and getting disappointed."
Raducanu is set to take part at the Transylvania Open that starts on October 25, as well as the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.
Raducanu had been plagued by tonsillitis and a recurring wrist injury in the build-up to the tournament that forced her to pull out of a doubles exhibition with Cameron Norrie on the eve of the competition.
The 20-year-old was able to compete in the women's draw, however, and claimed victories over Australian Open semi-finalist Magda Linette and world number 13 Beatriz Haddad Maia before losing 6-3 6-1 to world number one Swiatek on Tuesday.
Raducanu started well but a fourth match in six days eventually caught up with the Brit, who lost the second set comprehensively.
Yet Raducanu is satisfied with her performances in her first tournament appearance since January.
"I'm very proud of myself," Raducanu said.
"I think I had a few good wins earlier against some great opponents. I did two good training weeks in London. They paid off to an extent but ultimately two weeks of training isn't going to cut it against the world number one right now.
"Now it's just about consistent work to physically get to where I want to be. I saw a taste of the level where number one is at physically and how she is at the corners, repetitive, relentless. Yeah, I just couldn't take that."
"I'm looking forward to playing her after I've got more time under my belt."
Raducanu will now return to training as she looks to build on her most impressive set of displays since her remarkable US Open victory in 2021, with the Miami Open next on the cards.
She added: "Physically I feel like that's going to be one of my biggest assets. I think that I'm going to be one of the best athletes on the tour, and that's going to be a big part of my game.
"I would say there is a very long way to go, but I'm definitely starting the right work now."
Reigning champion Swiatek will now face Sorana Cirstea in the quarter-finals.
"I'm always pretty good in defence. I knew that I can't rush it and I can't be not patient, so I just stayed solid and I wanted to choose the right directions," Swiatek said after becoming the sixth player to win 11 or more of her first 12 main draw matches at Indian Wells.
"I always want to finish points as fast as possible if I have a chance, but for sure I know that sometimes it's not going to be possible here."
It was the 20-year-old's first match since her second-round exit in January's Australian Open, and she had to respond to some early adversity after Kovinic broke her opening service game.
But the Brit answered right back, rattling off four games in a row to take control of the first set, and the second frame was nearly a carbon copy, falling down 2-0 before putting together five unanswered games of her own.
Meanwhile, world number 31 Danielle Collins – the highest ranked player in the draw to not receive a seed – was a surprise early elimination as Hungary's Dalma Galfi got the better of her 6-4 6-4. As a reward, Galfi will meet world number five Caroline Garcia in the second round.
Nuria Parrizas-Diaz set up an all-Spanish second-round clash with Paula Badosa after beating Italy's Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-3 7-5, but fellow Spaniard Rebeka Masarova fell short 4-6 6-4 6-4 against American Peyton Stearns.
It was a great day for the Czech Republic representatives, with Katerina Siniakova earning a 7-5 6-4 over Julie Niemeier, Marketa Vondrousova dominating Rebecca Marino 6-2 6-2, and Karolina Muchova completing the hat-trick against Yulia Putintseva 6-3 4-6 6-4.
As good of a day as it was for the Czechs, it was just as poor for the Italians, with Lucia Bronzetti falling 7-5 4-6 6-3 to Bernarda Pera and Jasmine Paolini eliminated 7-5 6-1 at the hands of Tatjana Maria, joining Cocciaretto on an early flight home.
The Belarussian, who is currently ranked 100th, stunned the 19-year-old Briton 6-2 6-4 in one hour and 25 minutes.
Raducanu had been on a 10-match winning streak coming into her maiden Indian Wells campaign.
"I'm still so new to everything. The experiences that I'm going through right now, even though I might not feel 100 per cent amazing right now, I know they're for the greater good," Raducanu said after the defeat.
"I mean, I'm 18 years old. I need to cut myself some slack."
Raducanu, who did not drop a set during her US Open run, appeared in control early after winning the opening six points, but Sasnovich claimed the first break in the third game.
Unforced errors proved costly for Raducanu as the clean-striking Sasnovich capitalized to win the first set, before opening the second set with another break.
Raducanu responded with an immediate break back and led 4-2 in the second set, before the Belarussian hit back by winning the next four games to topple the British teenager.
"It was a really good match for me. I play really well," Sasnovich said. "I know she just won US Open. I lost there in the first round. But I tried to go on court, I tried to enjoy. I did everything right."
FORMER WINNER HALEP PROGRESSES
Sasnovich will face two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep in the third round after the Romanian defeated Marta Kostyuk 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 in one hour and 33 minutes.
The 11th seed, who split with long-time coach Darren Cahill last month amid an injury-disrupted year, was down a break early before working her way back and dominating the tiebreak.
Halep broke twice in a more controlled second set to claim victory in her 10th appearance at Indian Wells.
"I missed a lot playing tennis at this level this year because I've been injured and many months, I couldn't play matches," said Halep, who won at Indian Wells in 2015. "I came here a little more aggressive than normal and I'm trying to improve my game and myself."
KVITOVA CRUISES AS TOP SEEDS WIN
Two-time major winner Petra Kvitova eased into the last 32 with a 6-2 6-2 triumph over Arantxa Rus from the Netherlands.
Seventh seed Kvitova set up a showdown with two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka after she beat Magda Linette 7-5 3-0 in a walkover. Kvitova leads Azarenka 5-3 in head-to-head battles.
Second seed Iga Swiatek dominated Croatian Petra Martic 6-1 6-3 to seal her passage into the third round, while fourth seed Elina Svitolina got past Teresa Martincova 6-2 7-5.
Beaten 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez triumphed over experienced Frenchwoman Alize Cornet 6-2 6-3 and will play ninth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round after she easily accounted for Madison Keys 6-3 6-1.
There was a certain irony about that, given Garcia is the player Murray famously once tipped to become a world number one.
But seeing fellow Briton Murray battle past Taro Daniel prior to her own match fuelled Raducanu for her opening test at the WTA Indian Wells Open.
While it was not always comfortable for the 11th seed, Raducanu recovered from a shaky second set to win 6-1 3-6 6-1 against her French opponent.
Murray's pronouncement about Garcia's prospects came on Twitter in 2011 as he watched the then little-known player take on Maria Sharapova in the French Open.
Garcia reached as high as number four in 2018, and it is now Raducanu who looks the likelier future number one, having landed a breakthrough grand slam against all the odds in New York last year.
Raducanu was beaten on her Indian Wells debut by Aliaksandra Sasnovich last October, so to land a first win came as a relief.
She said in an on-court interview: "It's amazing to be back and I'm so happy to have got my first win in the desert here. I hope to come back for many more years.
"I thought the level of tennis was pretty high today, and it means a lot to have come through that because it could have gone either way."
Raducanu said Garcia "climbed on top" of her game in the second set, but, like Murray earlier, she kept enough back for a decider.
Speaking to Amazon Prime, she revealed how seeing Murray show his battling qualities against Daniel reminded her of what it takes in trying circumstances.
"I was watching pretty much the whole match until I had to go warm up," Raducanu said. "He was down, and it was a really tough one. To see him, I kind of wanted to follow him and learn from him and he kind of inspired me to dig in today when it got tough."
She added: "To get this win after a stop-start year that I've had at the beginning, it means a lot. I'm just really happy to have given myself another opportunity.
"For sure it's difficult after dropping a set. I knew I'd slipped up, and I'd missed too many first serves, and I was just thinking... 'Just think how bad you're gonna feel after the match if you let this one go'."
The 18-year-old claimed a sensational triumph at Flushing Meadows earlier this month, becoming the first qualifier to take a major title.
Raducanu defeated fellow unseeded teenager Leylah Fernandez 6-4 6-3 in the final of only her second grand slam.
The Briton did not drop a set throughout her fairytale run and climbed from 150th in the WTA rankings to now sit 22nd.
And Raducanu's remarkable display has earned her the opportunity to enjoy further stateside success at Indian Wells, having missed the cut when the entry list was first announced during the US Open.
She still has an outside chance of making the WTA Finals in Guadalajara, with appearances planned at tournaments in Russia and Romania later in October.
Raducanu's hopes of another deep run at Indian Wells have been boosted by the absence of superstar pair Naomi Osaka and Ash Barty, who have both withdrawn from the event.
Teen sensation Raducanu made history when she became the first qualifier to win a grand slam title at Flushing Meadows last month.
The 18-year-old split from coach Andrew Richardson following her stunning triumph in New York, revealing she wants to work with someone who has greater WTA Tour experience.
Raducanu will work with Jeremy Bates, the Lawn Tennis Association's national coach, when she plays her first tournament as a major champion at the Indian Wells Open in California.
The Brit, who will face Maria Camila Osorio Serrano or Aliaksandra Sasnovich first up after being given a bye into the second round, will take her time to mull over who will be her permanent coach.
She said in a press conference on Tuesday: "Jeremy is part of women's tennis at the LTA so while he's here he's helping me out.
"But going forwards I'm just going to wait and find the right person, I'm not going to rush into anything. I want to make sure I make the right decision.
"Even though I'm quite young I've got a lot of experience banked and at the end of the day you're out there on your own and you have to be your own coach on the court, so I'm pretty comfortable."
Raducanu is relishing being back in action after a whirlwind few weeks off the court following her US Open heroics.
"I'm very excited to be here," Raducanu added.
"It's my first time playing in Indian Wells, and it's a beautiful place. I just can't wait to get started. I love the facilities, everything is just so nice to be around.
"I don't really want to change anything. What got me to this point is not thinking anything differently so if I put additional thoughts in my head then that will just create a problem I think. I'm just going to keep going about my business and staying the same.
"It's been a very cool three weeks. I got to experience some great things that I probably never would have got to do before but after that I just went straight back to training and focusing on this competition and the upcoming ones that I've got lined up."
Martic came from a set down to beat US Open champion Raducanu 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 7-5 on Sunday.
Teenager Raducanu has been troubled by a back injury and an issue with her hip.
The Brit says she was hampered at Indian Wells, but is confident she will be fit for the Miami Open next week.
"I think it's just part of not playing and having so much stop start and having five, six days to prepare for matches and then playing at that intensity,” she said.
"It was a tough one not being able to serve full out so I was having to work so hard just to hold.
"I've just got to get stronger. I've had it for the last few days, just a product of training hard and probably the last match was pretty intense too and it didn't settle down.
"When you are crossing your fingers to hold serve every time, it's tough. I couldn't really drive up and I was kind of struggling to turn and reach.
"The margins were so small. I should be good for Miami, for sure."
The Canadian claimed the first championship of her WTA Tour career in California last year, kickstarting an outstanding 2019 season.
Andreescu claimed the Rogers Cup and then triumphed at the US Open, before a knee problem at the WTA Finals dealt her the latest setback of an injury-plagued career.
The world number four has not played since and will not be able to make her season debut at the upcoming WTA Premier tournament either, she revealed on Saturday.
"As many of you know, I've been working through an injury I suffered last year during the WTA Finals," Andreescu said.
"It's been a long road to recovery and, while I was looking forward to getting back on court and defending my title at Indian Wells, unfortunately I'm still not 100 per cent.
"I would like to thank you all for your continued support and [for] sticking with me on this journey. Your kind words have been so uplifting.
"While I am disappointed that I am not competing next week in a tournament where I have such great memories, I am focused on my recovery and rehab and working hard to get back on the court as soon as possible."
Dimitrov had only faced two break points for the tournament until this quarter-final, and Rublev capitalised when his opponent’s serve evaded him. Rublev was returning with particular focus, getting 85 per cent of points back across the court on Dimitrov's first serve alone.
Rublev broke in the fifth game of the first set on the back of two double faults, but Dimitrov secured one of his own with a trademark backhand pass. The 24-year-old Russian answered right back to regain breathing room and close out a tight first set.
Securing the break in the third game of the second, that consistent pressure on Dimitrov's serve again forced two double faults in the fifth game. From there at 4-1, Rublev saw the finish line.
The win was the seventh seed’s 13th in a row, adding Indian Wells to semi-final appearances at Miami, Monte Carlo and Cincinnati. A win in the final would equal a career-high 15 matches in a row undefeated.
"I think I played really well. In the beginning, it was more about who will be the first to dictate and play more aggressive, because both of us like to dictate with our forehand," Rublev said afterwards.
"The return [of serve] was one of the most important things. If you can bring as many returns as possible [into the court], and then here with these conditions, in some moments it's tough to serve."
In Friday's other quarter-final, Taylor Fritz did it tough against the unseeded Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, winning 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-1.
While Kecmanovic was content playing defence and grinding from the baseline, Fritz was the more active and it was most apparent at 5-5 in the first set.
Down 0-30, Fritz stood and delivered from the middle of the baseline with a booming forehand, before securing a critical hold.
The difference in tactics showed in the eventual winner differential, with Fritz's 35 in comparison to Kecmanovic's 15. Despite Fritz's relatively low unforced error count, he still gifted Kecmanovic the second set, serving three consecutive double faults to surrender the break at 3-4.
He regrouped and reeled off the opening five games of the third set, setting up his semi-final with Rublev. The other semi-final will see Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz meet in an all-Spanish duel.
Rybakina lost 4-6 6-3 6-4 to Sabalenka in Melbourne in January, but the world number 10, who will move up three places in the WTA rankings now, came out on top 7-6 (13-11) 6-4 on Sunday to clinch her first triumph at a WTA 1000 tournament.
It marks a fourth singles title of Rybakina's career, and her first since her maiden grand slam success at Wimbledon last year. She had not beaten Sabalenka in four previous attempts.
Having defeated Iga Swiatek in the last four, Rybakina is the first player to defeat the world number one and two in the semi-finals and final of a tournament since Garbine Muguruza at the 2017 Western & Southern Open.
Ten double faults marred Sabalenka's first set, though the Belarusian initially nosed ahead by claiming the first break of serve in the fifth game – albeit a shanked forehand that flew over Rybakina's head had more than a touch of fortune about it.
Rybakina broke back but saw a set point go begging at 6-5 up. A remarkable tussle followed in the tie-break, Sabalenka earning a set point with a sublime winner before a wild double-fault and a rash backhand gifted her opponent a chance.
Yet Rybakina too double-faulted as neither player was able to find the composure needed to get themselves ahead until, at the fifth time of asking, the eventual champion held her nerve.
Perhaps drained by her first-set exploits, Sabalenka – who was evidently emotional when she returned to the court after a short break – offered no resistance as Rybakina broke her with ease in the first game of the second set.
She did make Rybakina fend off two break points, and then saved two herself, in the fourth and fifth games, though a double break saw the Kazakh move to within a game of victory.
Sabalenka's resolve returned, the world number two reeling off eight of the next nine points to drag herself back to 5-4, yet Rybakina gathered herself on her next serve.
A cool forehand teed up match point, which was taken at the first opportunity when Sabalenka clipped a return straight into the net.
Rybakina defeated world number two Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (13-11) 6-4 on Sunday to clinch the Indian Wells Open title.
It brought up a fourth singles title of her career, her maiden WTA 1000 trophy and her first success since winning Wimbledon last year.
Rybakina overcame Iga Swiatek in the last four, making her the first player since Garbine Muguruza at the 2017 Western & Southern Open to beat the world number one and two in the semi-finals and final of a single tournament.
The Kazakh will rise to world number seven after her success in the Californian desert, but when asked if the top of the rankings was her next target, Rybakina told Amazon Prime: "I'll try but first of all I just want to have the consistency, the most important thing is to stay healthy because it's still the beginning of the year.
"If I continue like this I have all the chance to be higher in the top 10, we'll see how it's going to go."
She added: "It feels amazing. I didn't expect two sets, I thought it would be a three-set battle. It wasn't easy, it was a bit windy, I lost the two games, I was getting nervous, but I managed to sort it out."
The two games Rybakina referred to came in the second set, when she went from 5-2 up to 5-4 before regaining her composure.
Rybakina had also come out on top in an almighty tussle in the first-set tie-break, with Sabalenka unable to then rediscover her best form during the second set.
Sunday's success marked Rybakina's first victory over Sabalenka – who she lost to in the final of this season's Australian Open – in five attempts.
Though Sabalenka is not planning on losing another one, as the Belarusian comically interjected during Rybakina's post-match on-court interview.
"I'll make sure it was the last one," Sabalenka quipped after Rybakina had explained "it was the first time it went my way" in a meeting with the 24-year-old.
"It's been always a pleasure to play against you and always the toughest battle," Rybakina continued.
"Hopefully I'll be back next year to defend this result."
Sabalenka was courteous in defeat, saying: "First of all Elena I want to congratulate you and your team on another amazing week. Hopefully we'll play in many more finals, hopefully next time it'll go to me!"
However, she was already focusing on putting the defeat behind her, with the Miami Open next up.
"For me it's quite easy. I think it's gonna stay in my head until tomorrow, and tomorrow we are flying to Miami and I will forget this one," she told reporters.
"The thing is helping me to stay focused and to keep winning is just to focus on myself and focus on the game and focus on things what I have to do on court to keep winning.
"This one was tough, especially in the finals, it's always tough to lose. You're one step to the trophy and you lose it. This one is really tough. But she's a great player."
The last five WTA titles at Indian Wells have now been won by players yet to turn 24, while Rybakina became the 25th female player to win the title.
Rybakina, 25, added to her terrific recent head-to-head record against the 21-year-old Polish superstar, now with three consecutive straight sets victories since December.
The reigning Wimbledon champion, who became Kazakhstan's first grand slam winner, was all over Swiatek's serve from the jump.
The top seed ended up winning just 42 per cent (18-of-43) of her total service points, with Rybakina converting all five of her break point opportunities.
After taking the opening frame, Rybakina slammed the door shut by running out to a 5-0 lead in the second, hitting five aces in the set while Swiatek had just one for the match.
Rybakina will next face world number two Aryna Sabalenka in the decider after the Belarusian made similar light work of world number seven Maria Sakkari.
Sabalenka, who has dropped only one set en route to the final, needed just 85 minutes to advance 6-2 6-3. She created 10 break point opportunities compared to Sakkari's four, with the Greek talent not able to pull another rabbit out of the hat after four consecutive three-set victories.
It will be the sixth overall meeting between Rybakina and Sabalenka, and a rematch from the Australian Open final, when Sabalenka took it 4-6 6-3 6-4 to extend her head-to-head advantage to 4-1.
Aryna Sabalenka reached her second Indian Wells final after dismantling Madison Keys in just 52 minutes in their final four clash.
