Djokovic and Azarenka Both Winners in Indian Wells
Novak Djokovic won his fifth men’s singles title at Indian Hills on Sunday, dominating Canadian Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-0 in the finals of the BNP Paribas Open. Djokovic extends his record to 46-6 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, having captured the title in 2008, 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
"Once I was here I was starting to feel much better, and I ended out the tournament in the way that I wanted," Djokovic said. "It has obviously been a great couple of weeks. To win this tournament five times is a fantastic achievement for my team and I.”
The 25-year-old Raonic had made an impressive return to action after being sidelined with an adductor injury through February. Indian Wells was his third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final after becoming the first player outside the top 10 to reach the Indian Wells final since John Isner in 2012.
On the women’s side of the draw, it was top-seeded and world number one Serena Williams who was upset in the finals, falling to Victoria Azarenka, 6-4, 6-4. The win propelled Azarenka back into the top 10, to eighth in the world.
“Having a big goal in mind and going after it, that’s something that makes the momentum shift on the big stages,” Azarenka said.
This is Azarenka’s second title at Indian Wells, having also won in 2012, and her second trophy of the season, after claiming the Brisbane title with a finals win over Angelique Kerber to open her season.
In the men’s doubles draw, it was reigning U.S. Open champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert & Nicolas Mahut of France who defeated Vasek Pospisil & Jack Sock 6-3, 7-6 (5) to claim their first BNP Paribas Open men’s doubles title.
“We knew it was going to be a tough match because they are a very strong team,” Herbert said. “Vasek and Jack are playing really well. They won here last year. They like the conditions. We went for it and we hold the trophy, so was a very good match from both sides. We are happy to be the ones that won this one.”
In the women’s doubles draw, it was the all-American duo of Bethanie Mattek-Sands & CoCo Vandeweghe making their debut as a tandem on the WTA Tour who defeated Julia Goerges & Karolina Pliskova 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 to capture the title. This marked the first time since 2009 that two unseeded teams faced off in the BNP Paribas Open women’s doubles finals.
"We're both looking at Olympics ahead, to Rio, and having an option to play there," said Mattek-Sands "I think we played really well together, played really well at Fed Cup, and we're like, 'Let's keep it going.' Pick a tournament. Even though we kind of had partners set a little bit, we decided on Indian Wells to see how it went. Obviously it was pretty good. We had a lot of fun. That's a big thing for me playing doubles is getting along with my partner and having fun. It ultimately helps you do well."
