New Delhi: Two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka entered the finals by defeating former French Open Champion Jelena Ostapenko by 2-1 in the Women’s Singles semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, California, on Saturday.
While Ostapenko dominated the opening set by 2-0, Azarenka committed unforced errors. Ostapenko used groundstrokes to serve another point and won the set by 3-6. The next set saw a major shift in power as the losing Azarenka delivered back-to-back aces and overhead volleys to win the set by 6-3 against Ostapenko.
A determined Ostapenko used her forehand smashes and serves but managed a 2-5 against Azarenka, who leveled her game and pushed the match into a deuce.
Despite a strong serve, Ostapenko smashed on the net to commit a fault and made Azarenka win the semi-finals by 2 points 5-7.
Victoria Azarenka will either face Tunisian player Ons Jabeur or Spanish player Paula Badosa in the finals of the Indian Wells Masters 2021.
Meanwhile, American tennis player Taylor Harry Fritz defeated No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev by 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) in an intense Men’s Singles quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open 2021 at the Indian Wells on Saturday.
(Avya Mathur)