Paula Badosa is happy in Indian Wells. She feels at home. Practically, literally. “I hear how they chant my name, I see all the Spanish flags… I’m sorry for the Madrid tournament, but this one is in my heart”, assured the Catalan player at the foot of the track after beating Leylah Fernández by a double 6-4 in 1:42. From wonder to wonder. From present to future and from future to present. A great match and the confirmation of a trend. Badosa could arrive with certain doubts in the United States. The trend, in fact, was not winning. After the Australian Open, where he fell in the first round, he stumbled again in Doha, but… In Indian Wells she has not yet conceded a set, she has nine wins in a row since she was champion last season and wears a perennial smile. There are places where being yourself is easier.
Leylah Fernández, in the form of a tennis earthquake, shook the world last year, when she reached the US Open final at just 19 years old and ranked 73rd in the world. Currently, 21st in the ranking, like any potential rising star, she does not want to remain fleeting. Like Paula, she stumbled in Dubai, falling in the first round, but recovered in Monterrey, crowning the tournament for the second year in a row. His dynamic, with seven wins in a row, had straightened out. Up to this point. Even a Badosa who “knew her game”, despite the fact that they had only met once in an official match, in Auckland (2020). “Today I have been aggressive, I have served very well and I have been very stable mentally in break opportunities,” analyzed the Spanish tennis player herself after the duel.
As accurate as on the track. 78.7% of points won with the first serve, four acesalmost all very timely, the only downside of seven double faults and an inexhaustible repertoire of shots. From the bottom, mid court and on the net. From all points and in all ways: faithful to his powerful forehands, but releasing some very painful down the line backhand and responding well near the net, where the Canadian player invited her to raise constantly through left with intellectual property. And, in addition, 5/6 (83.3%) breakages saved, above a rival expert in the field (9/12, 75%).
You have the gift of survival or you don’t. And Leylah has amply proven to be in the first group. In Monterrey, he had to resist five match points to retain the title; in the second round of Indian Wells, Amanda Anisimova raised four limit situations. He overcame them all and, against Badosa, in many moments, it seemed that he would be capable of the same. The first set required from the Catalan all her perseverance. The Canadian is the loser, and you have to be that drop. The one that, little by little, manages to pierce the hardest material. Break for 4-3, counterbreak and, again, break for 5-4. In all cases, based on insisting and insisting, with multiple advantages from one side to the other. In the second round, more of the same until a 3-2 that could not be reversed. “We can repeat the tournament next week, I’ll be back,” he exclaimed Badosa, with a smile, before leaving for the locker room. She pursues an eternal return who, for now, will have to overcome Veronika Kudermetova or Marketa Vondrousova in the quarterfinals.
Indian Wells Masters 1,000 results.