Paula Badosa goes to the Indian Wells semifinals after beating Angelique Kerber
Seed No. 21 After upsetting 2019 finalist Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals on Thursday night, Paula Badosa became the first Spanish woman to reach the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open since 2003. In Friday’s semifinals, Badosa will meet Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, with the winner going to the biggest final of their careers.
Badosa is in her second WTA 1000 semifinal of the season, after reaching the same level at the Madrid Open in May. Badosa won her fourth Top 10 match of the 2021 season in the fourth round, defeating French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova in straight sets. The 23-year-old has previously defeated Coco Gauff and Dayana Yastremska in her debut main draw appearance in the California desert, losing only one set en route to her Friday match with Jabeur.
Badosa maintained the excellent game plan that gained her a quarterfinal berth in her maiden round against former No. 1 Kerber. Badosa was able to break the German five times by minimizing her unforced errors and applying consistent pressure from the baseline throughout the match.
Pulse check 🇪🇸 ❤️🔥 🙌@paulabadosa defeats Angelique Kerber 6-4 7-5 and becomes the first Spanish woman since 2003 to reach the @BNPPARIBASOPEN final four.#BNPPO21 pic.twitter.com/9JAKriINEK
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) October 15, 2021
Following an early exchange of breaks in the first set, both ladies breezed through their service games. Kerber, serving at 4-5, 30-30, dropped back-to-back games to surrender the set. At 30-30, Kerber made her second double-fault of the set, giving Badosa her second breakpoint, which she took when Kerber sent a regulation backhand long, her 12th unforced error of the match.
In the second set, Badosa applied more pressure to Kerber’s service games. Badosa broke twice to take a 5-2 lead, but the three-time major champion dug in her heels to hold to 3-5 and then broke Badosa to come back on serve at 4-5.
Badosa, on the other hand, maintained his composure to win the set on a service break. Badosa earned her third match point following a pair of holds and celebrated by crouching to the ground after Kerber fired a forehand long to end the match.
While both women won 20 games, Badosa was the cleaner player, making only 22 unforced errors to Kerber’s 29. With Kerber’s low first-serve percentage of 56.7 percent, the Spaniard was able to break him five times.
Next up:
For the second time this season, Badosa will face Jabeur. The two have met twice in their careers, with both matches lasting three sets on hard courts. In their first meeting, Badosa won 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 at the 2015 US Open. Jabeur defeated the Spaniard for the first time earlier this year in Miami, winning 7-6, 5-7, 7-5 in the second round.