Yesterday saw the men’s and women’s finals of the Indian Wells Tournament. This tournament is a ‘Masters 1,000’ tournament, making it only one level below the grand slams. The 1,000 part of the title refers to the number of ranking points that the winner of this tournament and others of similar status receive. Before I get to the finals, a small sidelight from the women’s side…
ACCEPTING A SLICE OF LUCK
Tennis has what is called ‘a lucky loser system, whereby if someone pulls out of a tournament very late a s0-called ‘lucky loser’ – someone who just missed out on being in the main draw as of right – is drafted in to fill the gap. In the case of the women’s event at Indian Wells the beneficiary of this system was Sonay Kartal, a 23 year old British woman of Turkish ancestry, who had originally checked out of her hotel after losing in the final qualifying round. She took advantage of her good fortune splendidly, going on to reach the last 16 where her run was ended by world number one Aryna Sabalenka, which segues neatly on to…
THE WOMEN’S FINAL
This was a contest between an established star (world number one Sabalenka) and a youngster, 17 year old Mirra Andreeva. When Sabalenka took the first set 6-2 it could have been a brief and brutal affair. Andreeva fought back however and ensured that this would not be the case. First she took the second set 6-4. Then, remarkably, she quickly took control of the third and deciding set as well. In the end she won 2-6 6-4 6-3, becoming the youngest ever winner of a WTA 1,000 level event.
THE MEN’S FINAL
The men’s final featured Jack Draper of Great Britain, who had overcome a horrible period mid-match (being ‘bageled’ in the second set no less) to beat Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-final, and Holger Rune of Denmark. In the final there were no wobbles at any stage from the 23 year old Brit, as he quickly took control of proceedings and never relinquished it, winning 6-2 6-2 to secure the biggest tournament win of his career to date. Draper is now ranked number seven in the world.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
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