‘Historic’: Paula Badosa wins the Indian Wells Open, defeats Victoria Azarenka in a hard-fought finale
Paula Badosa
What a game, what a win. Paula Badosa has been simply sensational at the Indian Wells. The Spanish tennis star thrashed several top-rated stars to make her way into the finals of the BNP Paribas Open. Such was her domination that she had lost just one set in the entire tournament before entering into the final clash.
Badosa defeated superstars like Coco Gauff, Barbora Krejčíková, Angelique Kerber, and Ons Jabeur to reach the finals where she had the experienced Victoria Azarenka in front of her. In a hard-fought encounter that went on for more than three hours, Badosa undoubtedly played the best tennis of her life.
‘The first thing that I’ve learned this week is that nothing is impossible’: Paula Badosa
After winning the first set in a tie-breaker, Badosa dropped the second set and Azarenka was looking determined to clinch the title. However, Badosa kept herself in the game at all instances and ended up winning the deciding set in another tie-breaker to seal the game by 7-6, 2-6, 7-6.
After the historic win, Badosa appreciated her opponent Azarenka for being such an inspiration. “I remember when I was 14, 15 years old, I was seeing you winning Grand Slams, and I remember saying to my coach, I hope one day I can play like her,” Badosa said after the win.
Badosa went on to add that she had a wonderful tournament this time around which gave her the belief that she has the ability to achieve anything. “The first thing that I’ve learned this week is that nothing is impossible. If you fight, if you work, after all these years, you can achieve anything,” Badosa said.
“It was a really tough match. I think it was like a roller coaster mentally, emotionally. It was my first final in a 1000. I had a lot of emotions. I’m still a little bit in shock that what happened right now. But in that moment I was super excited and super proud of what I did after three hours fighting on court,” Badosa further stated.
Also read: Paula Badosa, the ‘Giant Killer’ enjoying a meteoric rise in 2021
Shubham Bhargava
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