Victoria Azarenka Wins at Indian Wells, Becomes First Player to Beat Serena 4 Times in a Final - UBITENNIS
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Victoria Azarenka Wins at Indian Wells, Becomes First Player to Beat Serena 4 Times in a Final

Victoria Azarenka beat Serena Williams 6-4 6-4 in the final of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells to become the first player to beat the World No.1 four times in a final. With this win Azarenka will climb back into the top 10 as World No.8 starting on Monday. Serena has officially found her rival for supremacy on the WTA tour.

By Ivan Pasquariello
11 Min Read

If Patrick Mouratoglou was looking for a rival to help Serena Williams raise her level furthermore he has officially got that after the 2016 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Victoria Azarenka won the title becoming the first player ever to beat Serena Williams four times in a championship match. Vika was already the only player together with Venus Williams having been able to deny Serena with a trophy trice, after today she takes only ownership of the record.

Playing impressive tennis, fighting hard on the defense running on every ball and staying focused the entire time on the offense, Victoria played a perfect match. “I see players stepping on court having already lost to Serena, I don’t feel like that” had said Victoria after collecting her ticket for the final on Friday. Clearly, the Belarusian followed words with facts, playing a match of personality against the World No.1.

Before today, Serena had last lost twice consecutively in a final only in 2004 (Sharapova at Wimbledon, Davenport in Los Angeles). Now, 12 years after it had been predicted the Russian would overtake Williams on top of women’s tennis, it might be time to predict the uprising of another rival yet again. Azarenka has the shots, the energy, the personality to climb back the rankings all the way to the top, a position she held before in women’s tennis. Vika was the last World No.1 before Serena took the throne back in 2013 to never leave it again to date.

Starting on Monday Victoria will be back in the top 10 for the first time since 2014, as World No.8, with few to defend until the end of the season. Considering the quality of her tennis and the show she put up in California, it won’t be late until we see the Belarusian fighting for a major title again. Victoria is ready.

It is the second title after the triumph in 2012 for Azarenka in Indian Wells, the 19th WTA of her career and the first premier mandatory title since 2012 at the China Open. Serena was bidding to win in California for the first time since the unfortunate events of 2001. She leaves the desert knowing she will need to give more to dominate women’s tennis the way she did in the past two years.

THE MATCH

Serena and Victoria were meeting for a career 21st time, with Williams leading the Head-to-Head 17 wins to 3. The World No.1 has only met another player so many times on the tour, being it her older sister Venus. It was also the 9th time the two were meeting in a championships match, with the 2012 US Open (Serena won 6-2 2-6 7-5) being the best match played by Serena and Victoria in a final. All three losses Williams faced against Azarenka had come in finals.

THE FIRST SET

Williams started off very nervous, with a double fault and two unforced errors facing immediately 3 break point chances. The World No.1 completed the terrible start committing another double fault to lose serve immediately. Taking a big breath between the first and second serve, it appeared obvious how Serena was surrendering to her nerves and anxiety.

Azarenka responded committing a double fault herself in her first service game, but regrouped right away firing the first winner of the match, on her forehand. The Belarusian also got her first ace and held serve to lead 2-0.

Following her disastrous opening game on serve, Williams started loosening up, firing her first ace and forehand winner in the third game. Serena closed the game with a second ace, trailing back at 1-2. In the fourth game Victoria got her 2nd ace and held to love as Serena missed three returns on her backhand.

Down 1-3 on her serve, Serena hit the first hot shot of the match, with a stunning forehand passing shot on the run. Here it is:

Williams held serve and trailed back to 2-3. The Belarusian faced another threat on her serve, down 15-30 after hitting yet another double fault. Serena sees her first break point chance with a strong forehand cross court return. Azarenka responded firing her third ace to hit back to deuce. Serena got another chance to break once again thanks to a forehand cross court powerful return. The American missed her chance hitting a forehand return long and Azarenka won the following two points, shouting loud her ‘C’MON’ and holding to lead 4-2.

Down 0-30 in the 7th game, Williams found her first serve to win the game, setting the score at 4-3 Azarenka. Not willing to slow down on her aggression, despite the lack of winners, Serena fired a forehand winner and a backhand down the line to reach two break points at 15-40 on Azarenka’s serve. Azarenka saved both, with Serena missing her chance on the first hitting right on the Belarusian on open court. Serena kept missing on the important points, especially on her forehand, missing yet another chance to break in the game. Azarenka finally held, as Serena hit another forehand in the net to lead 5-3. Serena held the following service game to 15, forcing the Belarusian to serve for the set in order to close the first fraction.

Serving for the set Azarenka didn’t crumble and held serve to love to win 6 games to 4. In the last point, Serena missed a backhand in the net.

The first set stats:

https://twitter.com/livetennis/status/711629916169699328

THE SECOND SET

Serena started the second set on her serve, unable to get a first serve on court. The American immediately faced a break point, with Azarenka firing a backhand winner down the line. The Belarusian had a second chance after missing the first and Serena hit a double fault to lose serve. Just like in the first set, Williams lost her serve in the opening game, with Azarenka leading 1-0. Williams got up 15-40 on Azarenka’s serve in the second game. On the first break point Azarenka fired an ace for the second time in the match. On the second break point Serena hit a backhand wide, missing that way her 7th chance to break her opponent’s serve. Serena had a third break point chance, but missed a backhand in the net, missing her 8th chance to break. Serena hit a forehand in the net on her 9th chance to break. Finally Azarenka held serve once again, to lead 2-0.

Azarenka had yet another chance to break in the third game. Serena missed two forehands cross court wide, and Vika broke again to lead 3-0 in the second set, looking steadily in control of the match.

Serena responded to the loss of serve breaking not one, but two rackets in a row. The chair umpire gave Serena a penalty point to let the Belarusian start up 15-0 on her serve. Azarenka stayed strong on serve and held twice, to take a decisive 5-1 lead, with Serena missing a forehand long on the last point of the 6th game.

Feeling the pressure perhaps for the first time in the match, Azarenka hit two consecutive double faults when serving for the match up 5-2. For the first time, at her 10th break point chance, Serena finally managed to break Azarenka’s serve, with a deep backhand return to get back to 3-5.

Serena fired two aces and held serve to trail back 4-5 sending Azarenka to serve for the match a second time.

Williams played a superb point to get to 0-15 on Azarenka’s serve, then fired a forehand return winner to get to 0-30. Azarenka found her first serve to trail back 15-30, but Williams fired a return full power to get to 15-40. Victoria responded with an ace to cancel the first break chance. On the second break point Williams missed a backhand long. As Serena hit a forehand in the net, Azarenka saw her first match point at A-40. Serena hit a forehand return long and Azarenka won the match, her 19th career WTA title.

The moment Victoria won:

The final match stats:

In her runner-up speech Serena in tears thanked the crowd for the cheers, admitting her last memory in Indian Wells wasn’t the greatest. The World No.1 then congratulated Azarenka for the win.

“The last moment I had here wasnt so great. Thank you so much. The cheers…Cant begin to tell you how much it means to me” said Serena.

Victoria had a very graceful acceptance speech:

“You truly inspired so many people out there. Thank you for that from the bottom of my heart. You’ve changed our game” said the new World No.8.

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