Mirra Andreeva produced the finest win of her young career on Wednesday, beating Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-0 to reach the semi-finals of the WTA Finals on her debut at the season-ending event in Indian Wells, California.

The 19-year-old French Open champion trailed 4-1 in the opening set before winning 11 games in a row, turning a match that looked to be slipping away into one of the most one-sided results of the tournament. She sealed victory in just 62 minutes.

Andreeva turns the match around from 4-1 down

Sabalenka, the world number two, made the stronger start and broke Andreeva early to move ahead in the first set. But the teenager responded immediately, winning three games in a row to draw level at 4-4 before breaking again and serving out the set.

From there Andreeva did not allow Sabalenka another game. She won 32 of 35 points from 4-1 down in the first set, and 45 of the last 55 points in the match, as the second set raced by 6-0.

Group winner on WTA Finals debut

The win was Andreeva's second in as many Group 2 matches, after she beat Elina Svitolina in her opening match on Monday. It confirms her as group winner, and she will enter the semi-finals as the leader of her group whatever happens in her final round-robin match against Karolina Muchova.

It is a remarkable debut at the elite eight-player event for a player who won her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros earlier this year and has now beaten two of the world's best players in the same week.

Svitolina keeps her hopes alive

In Wednesday's first match, Svitolina battled back to beat Muchova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 and keep her own semi-final hopes alive. The result eliminated Muchova from contention, and means Svitolina will face Sabalenka in Friday's final group match with the remaining semi-final place at stake.

Sabalenka, who beat Muchova in her opening match, can still reach a fifth consecutive WTA Finals semi-final if she beats Svitolina on Friday.

Source: Reuters and theScore (AP).; WTA (wtatennis.com, official tour site)