Sun, Mar 18, 2018 page11

• Kasatkina, Osaka set up young final

  ‘MAKE HER WORK’: The Russian 20-year-old left Venus Williams breathing heavily at the breaks, playing a close baseline game peppered with drop shots and risky lobs

  • AP, INDIAN WELLS, California
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  The future is now at the BNP Paribas Open.

  Daria Kasatkina on Friday upset Venus Williams 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a nearly three-hour baseline struggle, while Naomi Osaka routed top-ranked Simona Halep 6-3, 6-0 in 64 minutes to set up a final between two 20-year-olds.

  “We are coming,” Kasatkina said. “Very soon.”

  

  Daria Kasatkina drops her racket after defeating Venus Williams in the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open on Friday in Indian Wells, California.

  Photo: AFP

  Kasatkina was two points from defeat, trailing 4-5 and 0-30 in the third set, when Williams committed four straight errors as the Russian tied it 5-5.

  Williams won just two more points as Kasatkina took the last two games to close out the match in 2 hours, 48 minutes.

  Kasatkina dropped her racket near the baseline and covered her face with her hands as she walked to the net.

  “In one moment you just catch yourself, like, you’re in night session, all crowd, you’re playing against a legend, and you are in the third set,” Kasatkina said. “You’re just staying on the return, and you’re like: ‘Come on, maybe it’s the moment of your life.’”

  It was, for both up-and-comers.

  Osaka put away Halep on her third match point when the Romanian netted a backhand.

  “I saw Dasha. She threw her racket, right?” Osaka said of Kasatkina’s reaction. “I was going to be like, I’m going to be that extra. Maybe I’ll even cry a little bit just to soak it in, but I didn’t. I was just sort of more relieved that it was over.”

  Ranked 44th, the Japan-born Osaka opened the tournament by beating Maria Sharapova in the first round. She defeated No. 31 Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 5 Karolina Pliskova on her way to the final, dropping just one set in six matches.

  “I feel like there is a new generation and we’re trying to push through,” Osaka said.

  After shaking hands, Kasatkina pumped her fists and shook her head slightly as if in disbelief at beating the 37-year-old and advancing to the biggest final of her young career.

  Williams won her first four matches at Indian Wells in straight sets. The eighth seed was trying to reach the final for the first time in seven appearances in the desert, including a 15-year absence when she and her sister boycotted the event.

  Williams had 45 winners — 15 more than Kasatkina — and 63 unforced errors.

  “If I don’t win, I’m not happy,” Williams said. “You don’t get used to losses, ever. Anyone who gets used to losses should give up on life.”

  Williams breathed heavily during changeovers and was the last to leave her chair, while Kasatkina got up just as the umpire called time and jogged to the baseline.

  After losing the first set, Kasatkina was visited by her coach on court, who told her: “She’s 37, you’re 20. Make her work a lot.”

  When she was not trading shots from the baseline, a nervy Kasatkina fooled Williams with drop shots, including two that landed just over the net near the sideline, and lobs that did not always work.

  “She just played a little better at the end,” Williams said. “It was really pretty much that simple.”

  Kasatkina now owns a 2-1 record against Williams, who won 10-8 in the third round at Wimbledon in 2016.

  In the men’s singles, Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina defeated No. 31 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, while Milos Raonic beat 18th seed Sam Querrey from the US 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals.
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