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Sunday’s BNP Paribas Open women’s singles final between Victoria Azarenka and Paula Badosa was one of the best matches of the year as it came down to a tiebreaker in the third set.
Badosa won the Indiana Wells final for the first time in her fledgling career, defeating Azarenka 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-6 (2) in Southern California.
The Spaniard had never faced Azarenka before this match and knocked off some of the world’s best players en route to the final, including Barbora Krejcikova, Angelique Kerber and Coco Gauff.
Many believed Azarenka would get an easy victory, but in a back-and-forth battle, Badosa looked more confident as the games went on in the first set, winning 7-6. In the tiebreaker, the No. 21 seed almost threw away a 4-0 lead, allowing No. 27 Azarenka to even things up 5-5 before winning 7-5 to take the set.
BNP Paribas Open @BNPPARIBASOPEN
Set Stats<br><br>Points: 55-55<br>Time: 1 hr 20 minutes<br>Entertainment level: Off the charts<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/BNPPO21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#BNPPO21</a> | <a href=”https://twitter.com/paulabadosa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@paulabadosa</a> <a href=”https://t.co/xeuiH4PmwL”>pic.twitter.com/xeuiH4PmwL</a>
Some took note of how Badosa took the fight right to Azarenka and didn’t quit:
The second set was a completely different story as Azarenka looked as dominant as she had all night.
Badosa looked a step slower as Azarenka turned things around, jumping out to an assertive 3-0 lead before winning 6-2 with an ace to force a decider for the BNP Paribas Open title.
BNP Paribas Open @BNPPARIBASOPEN
Never count her out ????<br><br>The two-time champion blasts past Badosa to claim the second set 6-2 and force a decider for the title!<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/BNPPO21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#BNPPO21</a> <a href=”https://t.co/ylZZKJKC2n”>pic.twitter.com/ylZZKJKC2n</a>
The tide began to turn back in Badosa’s favor early in the third set, which was far more competitive than the second. Badosa jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Azarenka refused to give in, winning the third and fourth games to tie Badosa 2-2.
The fifth game of the final set was the most entertaining, as Badosa and Azarenka went back and forth before the latter ended it with an ace to take a 3-2 lead.
However, it was Badosa in the end who took the final set 7-6 to win the BNP Paribas Open title. She won in a 7-2 tiebreak.
As many noted throughout the afternoon, the match between Badosa and Azarenka was arguably the best of the year.
The match was the biggest of Badosa’s career thus far. She previously defeated Ana Konjuh at the Serbian Open in May, her only WTA win.
Entering Sunday, Azarenka had won 21 WTA singles titles, including two Grand Slam singles, six Premier Mandatory singles and four WTA Premier 5 singles. If she had won this match, she would have been the first woman to win three titles at Indian Wells.
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