The best match of the season
Paula Badosa beat Victoria Azarenka 7-6 2-6 7-6 in Indian Wells final
Paula Badosa beat Victoria Azarenka 7-6 2-6 7-6 in a very entertaining Indian Wells final after 3 hours and 4 minutes to win the biggest title of her career. The 23-year-old Spanish player became the first player from her country to win the tournament in the Californian desert.
Badosa claimed the second title of her career following her triumph in Belgrade last May. Thanks to her title in Indian Wells Badosa moved up to world number 11 in the world
Azarenka did not convert five break points in the first four games that lasted half an hour. Badosa earned her first break in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. Azarenka broke straight back but Badosa broke again to earn her chance to serve for the set at 6-5. Azarenka won consecutive points at 30-30 to force the first set to the tie-break. Azarenka came back from 0-4 down in the tie-break to draw level to 5-5, but Badosa won one of the best rallies of the match to win a hard-fought tie-break 7-5 after 1 hour and 18 minutes.
Azarenka earned a double break to take a 3-0 lead in the second set. The former world number 1 player and Grand Slam champion dropped just games to win the second set 6-2 forcing the match to the deciding set
At the start of the third set Badosa rallied from 0-30 down to hold serve before earning the break to take a 2-0 lead. Azarenka broke back to draw level to 2-2. Both players earned break points before Azarenka broke serve in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead. Badosa came back from 0-30 to break straight back after a series of unforced errors from Azarenka. Badosa raced out to a 7-2 win in the decisive tie-break. Badosa was inpired by Azarenka at the start of her career and praised her during the victory ceremony.
Paula Badosa: “I remember when I was 14 years old and seeing you win Grand Slam title. I said to my coach than one day I hope I can play like her, so it’s amazing to play against Victoria. Thank you for inspiring me so much. Without athletes like you, and women like you, I would not be here. This is a dream come true”.
The Olympic champion: Belinda Bencic
Belinda Bencic won the third Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, and the fifth medal overall for Switzerland continuing the strong tradition of this country at this event after the titles claimed by Marc Rosset in the men’s singles in Barcelona 1992 and Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka in the men’s doubles in Beijing 2008. Federer won the men’s singles silver in London 2012 after losing the final to Andy Murray. Timea Baczynszky and Martina Hingis claimed silver in the doubles tournament in Rio de Janeiro 2016.
Bencic won her first title since Moscow 2019 after losing her previous finals played this year in Adelaide and Berlin.
Bencic came back from an early break in the deciding set to beat Marketa Vondrousova 7-5 2-6 6-3 in the Olympic final. Bencic had to save three break points, as she was serving for the title. Vondrousova fired a forehand winner to save a match point. Bencic sealed the win with a service winner on her second match point.
The Swiss player crowned a successful career, which started in 2014 when she reached the US Open quarter finals at the age of 17. She won seven titles, including Eastbourne and Toronto in 2015 and Dubai and Moscow in 2019.
The best national team: Russia
Russia won both singles matches to beat Switzerland 2-0 in the final of the Billie Jean King Cup at the O2 Arena in Prague. The Russian team claimed this trophy for the fifth time in history and for the first time since 2008.
Daria Kasatkina got off the Russian campaign to a winning start with a 6-2 6-4 win over Jill Teichmann in the opening match. Liudmila Samsonova came back from one set down to clinch the decisive point with a 3-6 6-3 6-4 win over Belinda Bencic. Samsonova had already beaten Bencic in the final of the WTA Tour in Berlin to win her first WTA Tour title last summer and scored another win against the Swiss player in Luxembourg.
Liudmila Samsonova: “I have too many emotions now. It’s unbelievable”
