Paula Badosa, a Spanish tennis player, won the final WTA level 1000 tournament in the 2021 season at the BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells.
The historic achievement was the 21st seed picked after defeating the 27th seed, Victoria Azarenka with a tight result 7-6, 2-6, 7-6 in the BNP Paribas Open final.
In the first meeting between the two players, the Spaniard prevented former world number 1 Azarenka from bagging a third BNP Paribas Open title of her career. In contrast, it was the Spaniard who won his second title of the season and in his career.
The final which lasted 3 hours and 4 minutes became the longest singles WTA tournament final of the 2021 season. The result was a sweet closing to one of the best weeks of Badosa’s career who beat four top 20 players in a row en route to the final at Indian Wells and now he recorded 2-0 in the singles WTA tournament.
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The 21st seed went 6-0 at Indian Wells before claiming the title on her tournament debut. She follows in the footsteps of BNP Paribas Open champion Bianca Andreescu who won the 2019 Indian Wells season on her debut at the tournament.
Interestingly, the 23-year-old also became the first Spanish woman to win the BNP Paribas Open title. Former world number 2 tennis player from Spain, Conchita Martinez could only be runner up in the 1992 and 1996 seasons. Meanwhile, former world number 1 player from Spain, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Garbine Muguruza have never made it to the final at Indian Wells.
With this victory, Paula Badosa will occupy the highest rank in his career to date. He is currently ranked 26th in the world, but when the new ranking list is released, it is predicted that he will occupy the world number 13th.
The 1000 points he received by winning the BNP Paribas Open also made him one of the contenders for a place in the WTA Finals, Guadalajara.
Both players played solidly after Belarusian Azarenka saved eight of the 13 break points she faced, while Badosa saved 10 of the 17 she faced.
Overall, Azarenka produced four more winners and made eight fewer unforced errors than the Spaniard. In the end, the match was decided through the tie-break of the deciding set.
In the tie-break of the decider, Badosa snatched a 4/1 advantage and from that position, he faced no problems and snatched the biggest title of his career to date with a forehand winner.
“I think it was a really tough match,” said Badosa. “I think I have to raise the level of play in every set. In the third set, I think I played my best game. It’s the only option if I want to win. So I’m really proud of that.”
“The first thing I learned this week is that nothing is impossible. If you fight, train, after all the seasons, you can achieve anything. That was the first message I saw could happen. And to dream.”
“I am very happy with what happened. I’m still a bit surprised to win a tournament like this, it’s always been a dream of mine.”
