Agence France-Presse
Indian Wells, March 21: Novak Djokovic rolled past Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-0 here Sunday to win the BNP Paribas Open for a record fifth time, while improving to 22-1 in matches this year. It was the Serb’s third consecutive title in the California desert.
The women’s final was equally one-sided. Victoria Azarenka defeated an error-prone Serena Williams 6-4, 6-4, which enabled the Belarusian return to the world’s top 10 for the first time since August 2014.
Djokovic needed 67 minutes to dispatch Raonic, breaking his opponent five times. The 25-year-old Canadian served just four aces and had 27 unforced errors. His first serve averaged 128 mph, much faster than Djokovic’s 111 mph – but he connected on only 55 per cent. The Serb landed 68 per cent of his first serves and was never broken.
Clearly the crowd favorite, Serena gave fans little to cheer about on an unseasonable 91-degree Fahrenheit (32 degree Celsius) day while making 33 unforced errors. After getting broken to trail 0-3 in the second set, Serena returned to her seat and smashed her racquet in frustration.
Trailing 1-5, Serena won three straight games and held two breakpoints on Azarenka’s serve in the last game. But then she committed three successive errors to lose the match.
“Just unexpected nerves maybe. I definitely didn’t expect to be on that stage again,” said Serena, who was back here after 14 years.
It was Azarenka’s first victory over the top-ranked Serena since the Cincinnati final in August 2013. She will move up seven spots to No. 8 in the WTA Tour rankings Monday.
Azarenka, who won here in 2012, hit just 10 winners and had 20 unforced errors in the two-hour match. “I had to go for it,” Azarenka said. “She’s not a type of player with whom you can play safe. You have to go there and create your own points.”
Meanwhile, Djokovic after the demolition of Raonic stated his main priority this year would be to win the French Open. “Roland Garros has been and is this year again one of the top priorities of the season,” he said.
“I grew up on clay, I love playing on clay,” stated the Serb. “I still haven’t won that Grand Slam played on clay courts, but I have got very close a couple of times and I know that it doesn’t take too much more to win the trophy.”
The World No 1, who lost only three points on his serve in the second set, dispatched Raonic in 88 minutes to draw level with Rafael Nadal on 27 ATP World Tour Masters titles. It was his third title of the season after triumphs in Doha and at the Australian Open.
