Paula Badosa and Cameron Norrie win singles titles at Indian Wells

Paula Badosa (Peter Menzel, Wikimedia Commons)

The singles events finished up at the ATP and WTA Masters 1000 series events on Sunday, with Paula Badosa of Spain victorious on the women’s side, and Cameron Norrie of Great Britain victorious on the men’s side. What was interesting about Norrie and Badosa is the fact that they were ranked outside the top 20. Badosa and Norrie were each ranked 21st.

Badosa defeated the 27th seed, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the final 7-6, 2-6, 7-6. Badosa won the match even though Azarenka won nine more points. Azarenka won 133 points, while Badosa won 124. Azarenka had a great chance to win the match, as she was leading 5-4 while serving. However, she was then broken by Badosa in the 10th game of the deciding set.

This was Badosa’s second career WTA title. She previously won the 2021 Belgrade Open. In reaching the final, Badosa beat two other star players. They included 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova in the fourth round, 6-1, 7-5, and three-time grand slam champion Angelique Kerber of Germany in the quarterfinals 6-4, 7-5. Azarenka meanwhile is a two-time grand slam champion as she won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013.

Norrie meanwhile beat the 29th ranked Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. The biggest news came before the match as Norrie revealed that his tennis shoes were stolen from the locker room on Saturday. Norrie was not the only British player to lose his shoes during the Indian Wells event. Andy Murray also lost his shoes, which were later found in the lost and found at his hotel. However, Murray’s wedding ring was strung through the laces of his shoes which caused the tennis star more grief. Luckily, according to ESPN, Murray got his wedding ring back too.

This was Norrie’s second win in 2021. He previously won the 2021 Los Cabos Open where he beat Brandon Nakashima of the United States in the final. Among the notables Norrie beat to the reach the final included 2019 Wimbledon semifinalist Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in the third round, 2020 French Open semifinalist Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-0, 6-2 in the quarterfinals, and three-time grand slam semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals.

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