INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – No.14 seed Elena Vesnina served out a gutsy three-set win over five-time Wimbledon winner Venus Williams to win, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, and reach her first-ever semifinal at the BNP Paribas Open.
“I’m in the semifinal of BNP Indian Wells tournament, one of the biggest tournaments. I guess I’m on fire,” Vesnina said in press, calling back to her on-court interview. “I’m enjoying myself on the court, and I’m really happy with my wins here.
“This win today against Venus really means a lot for me. It’s never easy to play against her. She’s a great champion and always fighting till the end.
“I’m really happy that I pulled it out.”
Venus was playing at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden for just the second time since 2001, and had shown tremendous heart through a pair of tough victories over rival Jelena Jankovic and Peng Shuai to reach the last eight.
On the other side of the net was Vesnina, already in the midst of a career-best run at a Premier Mandatory tournament, who lead the American in their overall head-to-head and beaten her in their last previous encounter at the Miami Open.
“I’ve played against Venus, I don’t know, four times. I kind of knew the way she’s playing, hitting, serving, and today was totally different story. Today she was playing totally different match.”
Taking advantage of the veteran’s slow start, the Russian raced out to a quick 3-0 lead and never looked back in the opening set, winning her sixth set over the former No.1 with the loss of two games or less.
“She looked tired and slow on the court. Then, all of a sudden, she started moving around, hitting great shots, winners from all over the place. And in this momentum, I kind of lost my rhythm, because I didn’t know what to expect.”
Things only got more tense from there, as Venus made up for a subpar serving day with phenomenal groundstrokes, pushing Vesnina farther back and drawing errors from last year’s Wimbledon semifinalist to help level the match at one set apiece.
“It was not easy. When she won the second set, I was thinking how I’d seen previous matches where she was down with match point or set point, and I was like, Uh-Oh, it’s happening again. I’m going to be another victim of Venus. I don’t want that. I want to win this. I want this match.”
Shaking off a frustrating first game in the decider, Vesnina buckled down and broke back, winning five of the next six games to tee the Indian Wells crowd up for the tensest of endings. Venus valiantly staved off three match points on her own serve, and held a whopping six break points in the hopes of clawing back even.
“I was actually very proud of myself, how I held my nerve. I was 0-40 down, but, like, I didn’t even think about that. It was point by point, trying to create a good rally, trying to move her around.
“I was struggling with the first-serve percentage in the end of the third set, so I started serving with a little bit less power, and a bit more pace.
“Couple of kind of big points she gave me unforced error, but I stuck to my game. I was like, ‘I’m never gonna lose this game.’ I was really fighting like it’s the last game of my life.
Vesnina displayed impressive mental fortitude to save all six – including three in a row at 0-40 – to convert her fourth match point and one of the biggest results of her career after two hours and 11 minutes on court.
“Maybe this kind of tactic helped me to win this last game. Because otherwise it would have been 5-4, she would serve for 5-5, and you never know. She could come back again.”
Employing solid aggression throughout, the Russian finished the match with seven more winners and nine fewer errors than her illustrious opponent, and made 15 charges to net, winning 10.
“I’m a little bit tired. Of course, it was not an easy match, especially mentally, because when you’re set up and then down with a break, it’s never easy coming back again.
Standing between her and the biggest final of her career is No.28 seed Kristina Mladenovic, who stunned another former No.1 in Caroline Wozniacki earlier in the day.
“Kiki is having a great season. She’s on fire. She won her first maiden title in St. Petersburg and then she made final in Acapulco. It’s going to be tough match. We played couple of times, but two, three years ago, and it’s totally different story now.
“I need to think how I need to play against her, because I have couple of thoughts on my mind. She’s a great doubles player, as well. She can come into the net. She’s using the dropshots, slices.
“So it’s going to be difficult match, but on the other hand, it’s very exciting to play the semifinal match here in Indian Wells.”
But first, the Russian has a doubles semifinal to take care of; the No.2 seed partners with Ekaterina Makarova to take on Czechs Lucie Hradecka and Katerina Siniakova after a suitable rest.
“I have doubles coming in few hours. So I need to win that match, and then tomorrow I will be ready for the semifinal. I know how to recover. I’m not the new player on the tour. I know that I need to recover, and how to recover right and fast for that.”
