World No. 1 Serena Williams was clearly not at her best on Sunday but Victoria Azarenka was in no mood to relent as the Belarusian claimed the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of the American. This is the former top-ranked Azarenka’s second triumph in the desert after having previously won the title during her banner year in 2012.
She thus continues her rollicking start to the 2016 season, adding to the Brisbane title that she captured in January. This is a far more significant trophy for the 26-year-old as it is not only her biggest win since her comeback from her long-standing foot injury but it also seals her return to the top 10 for the first time since 2014.
Azarenka did have her fair share of woes on her serve which coughed up as many as eight double faults. But she managed to hold her nerves and stave off a late surge from the top seed with her otherwise solid game.
The two-time Australian Open winner started off brilliantly, breaking Serena to love. The 21-time Grand Slam champion shockingly looked a bundle of nerves right from the beginning and could not make in-roads into Azarenka’s game even once in the first set despite being presented with five break point opportunities.
The 34-year-old’s pin-point accuracy and her big match temperament were strangely lacking as errors continued to spray from her racquet. She couldn’t do anything to change the course of the final as the former World No. 1 wrapped up the first set 6-4 in 41 minutes.
If the two-time Indian Wells champion thought she would make a fresh start in the second set, she was mistaken. Nervous and shaky, Serena unbelievably went down a break in the very first game to gift her rival a bucketful of confidence.
The Belarusian then toughed out a gutsy hold and then struck right back at her illustrious rival, astonishingly breaking her yet again for a 3-0 advantage.
An irate Serena looked furious with herself and her problems only compounded further as she was docked a point for smashing her two racquets. The venting out of her frustrations failed to change her fortunes immediately as Azarenka cruised to a 5-1 lead.
But the feisty competitor called Serena Williams is never one to give up tamely and she upped the intensity on her returns to break her opponent as she served for the match. The World No. 1 grabbed three games on the trot and even held a couple of break points as the 13th seed served for the match again. This time, however, Azarenka was more cautious and managed to steady the ship in spite of the troubled waters. It took her 1 hour 28 minutes to lay her hands on her 19th career title and her first Premier Mandatory trophy since the 2012 China Open.
With this, she becomes the only woman to defeat the mighty Serena in four finals.
“I had no doubt in my mind that I will give everything I can,” the champion said in a post-match interview.
“I couldn’t control how she was going to play and she was throwing some bombs there,” added Azarenka.
“But I stayed tough because it’s the only way to win, to stay strong, to keep doing what’s been working. I just wanted to work hard, give it my all, and it worked.”
Serena, who made a return to Indian Wells last year after a self-imposed exile since suffering from racial abuse in 2001, was understandably emotional and thanked the crowd for their outpouring of love and support.
“It was really hard, the last moment I had here wasn’t the greatest moment, so thank you so much,” she told the crowd. “Thank you so much for the cheers, I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”
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