Paula Badosa Beats Victoria Azarenka to Capture WTA Indian Wells Title

Paula Badosa has discovered her oasis in the desert, defeating Victoria Azarenka, the two-time BNP Paribas Open winner, 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-6 (2), to win the biggest championship of her career.

When the former No. 1 served for the match at 5-4, Badosa was two points away from defeat, but he reeled off eight of nine points and took a decisive lead in the subsequent Sudden Death to win in three hours and four minutes on Sunday.

Despite a spectacular season that includes a Mutua Madrid Open semifinal, first championship in Belgrade, and a Roland Garros quarterfinal, the 23-year-old is expected to break into the Top 15 this week. She has already beaten four Top 20 women in six matches, including Coco Gauff, Barbora Krejcikova, Angelique Kerber, and Ons Jabeur, significantly improving her hopes of qualifying for the WTA Finals in Guadalajara.

When facing Azarenka for the first time, Badosa twice led by a break, only to see both leads vanish in a first-set tiebreaker. Since giving birth to son Leo at the end of 2016, Azarenka was searching for her second title—and first triumph in a final, after receiving a walkover from Naomi Osaka at the Western & Southern Open last summer.

In the tiebreaker, Azarenka made another comeback from 0-4 down, only for Badosa to score a thrilling set point to move within a set of the finish line.

Early in the second set, though, the momentum switched back to the No. 27 seed, as Azarenka raced to a 5-1 lead and served it out at the first opportunity.

Azarenka continued to battle Badosa's aggression with tenacious defence, scoring what appeared to be a decisive break in the ninth game, only to be undone by four unforced errors from a 30-0 lead.

Badosa responded with elegance, winning eight of nine points in the final-set tiebreaker and taking a commanding lead. He finished the epic with a bold forehand winner.

She hit 44 winners to 50 unforced errors in total, and while Azarenka had a much cleaner match (48 winners to 42 errors), she will be disappointed with how she managed her serve so close to victory.

Post-match words: "I think it was a really tough match," Badosa said, in her post-match press conference. "I think it was a really good one as well, because she played an amazing level. I think I had to rise [to a] high level every set. At the third set, I think I played my best. It was the only option if I wanted to win, so I'm really proud of it.

"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. That's the first message that I see that could happen. And to dream. Sometimes you have tough moments. In my case, I have been through tough moments. I never stopped dreaming. That's what kept me working hard and believing until the last moment.

"I'm very happy what's happening. I'm a little bit still in shock what happened today because winning a tournament like this, it's always been a dream."