Strong start, finish lift Serena past Bouchard in Australia

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MELBOURNE, Australia — Serena Williams figured it was important to get off to a strong start against Eugenie Bouchard in the Australian Open’s second round Thursday.

“Serena,” she said she told herself beforehand, “you’ve got to come out hot; you’ve got to come out firing.”

No problem. Seeking her eighth title at Melbourne Park and 24th Grand Slam singles trophy overall, Williams opened as well as can be, and closed rather well, too, grabbing 13 of the initial 17 points, and 20 of the closing 24, to put together a 6-2, 6-2 victory over 2014 Wimbledon runner-up Bouchard.

“She has to be the favorite to win this tournament,” Bouchard said. “It was tough to play against her. I always felt rushed, a bit on the back foot. She just has so much power.”

The evening did not begin well for Bouchard. Not well at all.

The Canadian player, who has been ranked as high as No. 5 and is currently No. 79, won the coin toss and chose to serve. On the very first point, Bouchard offered up an 86 mph (138 kph) second serve that Williams jumped all over, ripping a blink-and-you-missed-it backhand return that landed just wide.

So, yes, Bouchard won that point, but that sequence led her into trying to do a tad too much on second serves, because she ended the game with consecutive double-faults to get broken right away.

That was part of a run in which Williams raced to a 3-0, double-break lead after less than 10 minutes.

“Sometimes I would hit even good first serves and it was right at my feet at the baseline. That’s what she does well,” Bouchard said. “When she’s blasting returns, it’s almost intimidating.”

Bouchard began the second set in better shape, even hitting one big backhand cross-court winner that Williams saluted by clapping her racket and exclaiming, “Good shot!”

Ahead 2-1, Bouchard got to love-30 on Williams’ serve and seemed – maybe, just maybe – on the verge of making things interesting. That, though, was when Williams regained control, taking eight points in a row to hold there, then break at love, on the way to claiming the last five games.

On Saturday, the 37-year-old Williams will face Dayana Yastremska, an 18-year-old from Ukraine who is ranked 59th and eliminated No. 23 seed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to get to the third round of a major for the first time.

Yastremska was born in 2000, the year after Williams won her first Grand Slam title.

What goes through Williams’ mind when she faces opponents so much younger than she is?

“Well,” she replied, “I think, `God, Serena, are you still out here on the tour, seriously?”‘

Alcaraz wins Indian Wells over Medvedev, regains No. 1 rank

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INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – Carlos Alcaraz defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-2 to win the BNP Paribas Open title and regain the world’s No. 1 ranking.

The 19-year-old Spaniard will move from second to first in the ATP Tour rankings on Monday, displacing Novak Djokovic. The Serb withdrew from Indian Wells before the tournament began when he couldn’t gain entry to the U.S. because he’s unvaccinated for COVID-19.

“For me, it’s a dream come true again,” Alcaraz said. “Obviously being in front of such great players like Novak, it’s an amazing feeling.”

“I would say this has been the perfect tournament,” he said.

In the women’s final, Elena Rybakina beat Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (11), 6-4 and handed the world’s second-ranked player just her second loss this year.

Last year, Alcaraz became the youngest man to reach No. 1 in ATP history after his title at the U.S. Open.

He achieved another mark in the third round at Indian Wells. That’s when Alcaraz notched his 100th career match victory, the second-quickest player behind John McEnroe to do so.

Alcaraz also became the first man to win the tournament without dropping a set since Roger Federer in 2017 and the youngest man to win the title in the desert.

“I really trust in every shot that I hit,” he said. “If I miss, I don’t mind.”

Alcaraz hit 19 winners and had 10 unforced errors while keeping Medvedev off-balance with a steady array of serve-and-volley and drop shots. The teenager never faced a break point while opening leads of 3-0 in the first set and 4-0 in the second.

“What I improve a lot is to don’t take the pressure, just to play relaxed,” Alcaraz said. “That’s why I show a great level, because I feel like I have no pressure. I enjoy. I’m playing relaxed.”

Medvedev’s 19-match winning streak ended. It went back to his title run in Rotterdam in February. He then won tournaments in Doha and Dubai.

“I want to congratulate you for the work you have done in the last few months,” Alcaraz told his opponent. “Winning three titles in a row and reaching the finals here is an amazing achievement.”

Alcaraz and Rybakina earned $1,262,220 each for their wins.

Rybakina carried the momentum from her straight-set semifinal upset of top-ranked Iga Swiatek into the final and beat Sabalenka for the first time in five career meetings.

For the first time in their budding rivalry, the match didn’t go three sets. Sabalenka went the distance to beat Rybakina in the Australian Open final in January. In that match, Sabalenka fired 17 aces and rallied from a set down to win her first Grand Slam title.

This time, the 10th-seeded Rybakina had seven aces and No. 2 seed Sabalenka committed 10 double faults. Sabalenka won just 11 of 35 second-serve points.

“I would say that I was super disappointed with my serve, so I was back to old habits,” she said. “I was like a little bit overreacting on things, and I wasn’t there in the first two games in the second set.”

Rybakina broke for leads of 2-0 and 5-2 in the second set before Sabalenka closed to 5-4. But Rybakina served out the victory in just over two hours.

“This tiebreak was really epic, I would say, with all these double faults and nerves,” Rybakina said. “In the end, it was just focusing on every point and try to fight till the end.”

Rybakina improved her match record to 16-4 this year; Sabalenka fell to 17-2.

“This tough loss will motivate me more because I don’t like to lose in the finals,” Sabalenka said. “This is the worst.”

During the victory ceremony, Rybakina, the current Wimbledon champion, told the crowd it was the first time she’d beaten Sabalenka.

Sabalenka stepped forward, took the mic and said, “I will make sure it was the last one.”

Then she smiled.

Rybakina defeats Sabalenka to win Indian Wells title

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INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – Elena Rybakina defeated Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (11), 6-4 to win the BNP Paribas Open and hand the world’s second-ranked player just her second loss this year.

Rybakina carried the momentum from her straight-set semifinal upset of top-ranked Iga Swiatek into the final and beat Sabalenka for the first time in five career meetings.

For the first time in their budding rivalry, the match didn’t go three sets. Sabalenka went the distance to beat Rybakina in the Australian Open final in January. In that match, Sabalenka fired 17 aces and rallied from a set down to win her first Grand Slam title.

This time, Rybakina had seven aces and Sabalenka committed 10 double faults.

Rybakina improved her match record to 16-4 this year; Sabalenka fell to 17-2.