Azarenka, Federer Collect Indian Wells Titles
Former No. 1 Roger Federer and current No. 1 Victoria Azarenka claimed the momentum heading into the finale of the spring season on the U.S. tour, heading into the hardcourt event in Miami, capturing the men’s and women’s Indian Wells titles.
ADHEREL
Azarenka humbled world No. 2 Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-3, while Federer held back the charge of big-serving John Isner 7-6(7), 6-3.
Azarenka improved to 23-0 on the year, and 4-0 in finals vs. Sharapova.
“Victoria is extremely solid and makes you work for every point,” Sharapova said. “Ultimately she maybe forces you to want to do a little more than either you should or would want to. She’s really fit, as well. And she’s playing with a lot of confidence — you get that sense when she’s moving around the court and hitting the ball.”
While Azarenka was hitting the ball, Federer was dialing it back to the days he reigned over men’s tennis, fending off the big-serving advances of Isner.
“When it all pays off after a bit of a scare early on in the week and you get the title and the emotions are going, it’s a wonderful feeling,” Federer said. “I remember the days when I won three years in a row here, and I enjoyed myself over here. It’s been a long time since I have been this successful here, even though I have had some really good matches here in the past, but it’s nice taking it all the way and getting victories. I was just really happy and not relieved because I was just extremely proud of my performance this week.”
Isner said he had fun from the experience while taking some lessons home.
“It was a great experience for me,” Isnee said. “The whole week was a lot of fun. Felt like right from the get go I was going to have a good week, but I didn’t want to over-think it. I definitely took it one match at a time. I certainly played well all week, and obviously today it did not go my way. I don’t really feel like necessarily I played my best, but that’s what Roger does. If I have any shot to beat him I’m gonna have to play my best. That wasn’t the case today. He was too strong. All the credit goes to him.”
Isner also lost in the doubles final, pairing with fellow American Sam Querrey and losing to Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez.
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