Naomi Osaka thrashed World No.1 Simona Halep 6-3 6-0 and Daria Kasatkina edged out Venus Williams 4-6 6-4 7-5 to set up an exciting clash of 20-year-olds in the BNP Paribas Open final in Indian Wells on Sunday.
Osaka’s win was the more surprising because, prior to the match, the only time Halep had lost in 2018 was in the Australian Open final. But that did not seem to bother the Japanese player at all as she dismantled her more experienced opponent.
It was close to begin with, as Halep responded to an early break from Osaka by hitting straight back with a break of her own. The set then went with serve to 3-3 and it was looking like it would be a close encounter.
Osaka had other ideas. She recovered from break point down on her serve in game seven to hold and kick-start of run of nine consecutive games which clinched the match. The Japanese achieved this feat by cutting out the errors from her play and by pummelling trademark groundstrokes into the corners of the court with impressive accuracy.
After Osaka sealed the first set, the World No.1 crumbled and did not muster any resistance of note until the final game of the match when she saved two match points and had four chances to break the Japanese. In the end, the younger woman took her third opportunity to finish it and earn the biggest win of her career.
In her on-court interview, Osaka said, ‘I was just trying to play consistently this whole tournament and to beat someone like her (Halep) with the scoreline like this I think I’ve done what I intended to do, so I’m really happy about that.’
Osaka continued, ‘I just really wanted to get a lot of balls back because in Australia (when she lost 6-3 6-2 to Halep) I feel like I made too many unforced errors. I also wanted to be really consistent on her return and not to give her any free points.’
Kasatkina overcomes Venus in epic clash
Kasatkina had to work much harder for her win over Venus during an epic encounter that lasted two hours and fifty minutes. The Russian went a set down and was two points away from defeat at 4-5 and 0-30 in the decider, but she demonstrated her growing maturity and composure on court to achieve victory.
One of the most extraordinary aspects of the clash was that nearly every game was close. This led to 31 break points and 13 breaks in the match and, remarkably, seven of those breaks came during a topsy-turvy first set.
Kasatkina and Venus traded breaks in the opening two games before the Russian forged ahead by winning a second consecutive game on the American’s serve and then holding to go into a 3-1 lead. However, it was a false dawn for the 20-year-old as Venus stormed back to break her three more times and take the first set 6-4.
In the second set, Kasatkina again opened up a 3-1 lead. But she wasted two break points in game five and then tamely surrendered her own serve to raise the possibility of a repeat performance of the opening set. This time the Russian stepped up exactly when she needed, using her full repertoire of shots to break Venus again, save five break points during a nail-biting epic hold, and then hold serve again to level the match at one-set-all.
After another trade of breaks early in the final set, Kasatkina almost went ahead when she earned two break points on Venus’ serve in game five and another one in game seven. However, the American held firm to keep the match alive and the score progressed to 5-4 after a couple of routine holds from the Russian.
What happened next did not follow the pattern of the set. Kasatkina missed a relatively easy volley to go 0-30 down and was suddenly two points away from losing the match. But she maintained her composure, stayed in the next two rallies and Venus offered up two forehand errors to level the score in the game.
After that, the Russian never looked back as she won 10 of the next 11 points to break the American and hold serve to love to clinch a famous win. Following her win, BT Sport’s Sam Smith asked Kasatkina how she handled the pressure. The Russian said, ‘It comes from inside. You don’t really control these things, they are just instincts.’
During the same interview, Martina Navratilova asked Kasatkina what she was thinking when she went 4-5 and 0-30 down in the decider. The Russian said, ‘In these moments, even when you are tired, you have to do things you are sure (about).’
Kasatkina continued, ‘I love to play prime-time in front of all of the crowd on the big stadiums because this is what I’m playing for. When I go on court with everybody screaming, at this moment my heart is beating.’
Sunday’s final will be another huge occasion for both 20-year-olds and, whatever the outcome, Osaka and Kasatkina can look back on their respective breakthrough weeks in Indian Wells with immense pride.
