Indian Wells: Badosa beats Kerber while Ostapenko takes down Rogers.

Indian Wells: Biggest semifinal battle was between Angelique Kerber and Paula Badosa, where Badosa being the lower seed clinched the match in two sets. On the other end, Ostapenko had to come back in the decider to get past Rogers.

Paula Badosa goes pasts tricky Kerber.

The Spaniard Paula Badosa given the No. 23 seed became the first Spanish woman to reach the semifinals of Indian Wells defeating No.10 seed Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-3.

This will be Badosa’s second WTA 1000 semifinal of this season, the first one being at the Madrid Open in May. She will face Ons Jabeur from Tunisia.

This was Badosa’s first meeting with the former No. 1 Kerber, where she continued her successful gameplan that got her the quarterfinal spot. She was pretty accurate in minimizing her unforced errors while pressuring the German to break her five times.

“She’s a really tough player,” Badosa said. “She’s really tricky. Of course, I’ve seen her a lot, but on court, she’s really tricky, she opens the court a lot. Sometimes she plays short balls but then very long ones. She plays very tactically.

“At the beginning, it was strange for me. She runs a lot. She sees all the balls where you’re going to hit. It’s quite tough for me at the beginning and at the end as well. It was a really, really tough one.”

Kerber when serving at 4-5, 30-30, misfired on back-to-back points to hand over the set. Again at 30-30, the German hit her second double fault of the set to give Badosa her second break point which she converted via Kerber’s long backhand unforced error.

Badosa came out roaring in the second set building the pressure on Kerber’s service games. She broke Keber twice to build a 5-2 lead however, Kerber with her experience dug out in her heels to save two match points. She came back from 5-2 to 5-4 to serve it level.

“The 5-2 game, I got really nervous. 5-3, 5-4 until 5-All, she played amazing game. Of course I was nervous, but she’s an amazing champion. The champions, they play well at the important moments and at the limits. So that’s what she did.”

Badosa steadied on to seal the set on a break of serve. After a pair of holds, Badosa finally earned her third match point and crouched to the ground in celebration after Kerber sent a forehand long to end the match.

“I’m lucky that I have a lot of good relationships with the players. I think it’s important. You just compete on the court, but outside the court you can have a good relationship. I’m like that, as well. We can share moments.

“At the [end] of the day, you’re spending more moments between each other than with your own family. It becomes even more your family. They become your own family after so many years. I think it’s nice like that. I’m very competitive, but on court. Outside court, I don’t feel that. I’m happy that I can say that they’re my friends.”

Watch the highlights of the Indian Wells quarterfinals between Kerber and Badosa.

Indian Wells: Ostapenko fires 51 winners to get rid of Roger.

Jelena Ostapenko advanced to her first WTA 1000 semifinal in three years on Wednesday night, coming back from the brink in the final set to defeat unseeded Shelby Rogers 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the BNP Paribas Open quarterfinals. 

After three years of waiting Jelena Ostapenko returns to WTA 1000 semifinal, coming back from the mouth of defeat to edge out the unseeded Shelby Rogers 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the Indian Wells quarterfinals.

Ostapenko opened the match at a quick pace, winning five of the first six games in just 22 minutes. Striking the ball big off the ground for a barrage of baseline winners, Ostapenko also feasted on the American’s second serve. Rogers won just one point on her second serve in the opening set (1 of 11).

Opening the match at a quick pace, Ostapenko wins five of the first six games in just 22 minutes. Striking the ball big off the ground for a barrage of baseline winners, Ostapenko also feasted on the American’s second serve. Rogers was only able to win one point on her second serve in the opening set (1/11).

It has proven that Roger’s ability to turn the tables has been well-proven over the past weeks, where World No.1 Ashleigh Barty became the victim at the US Open. And the most recent thriller against Leylah Fernandez in the fourth round.

Rogers slowly began to turn the tables as Ostapenko’s blistering hitting began to cool. Roger rallied from 1-5 down to win the next three games, but Ostapenko broke for a fourth time to take the set 6-4. 

“I think from 5-1, I just stepped a little bit back and I was not that aggressive, and also maybe missed some balls, kind of gave her the opportunity to play,” Ostapenko said. “If I just was playing the same until 5-1, I think I could close the set a little bit easier than 6-4. I felt like I was rushing a little bit too much and making some stupid errors.”

Although dropping the first set Rogers began the second set leveled with Ostapenko and had her teeth in the match. What Ostapenko did on the first set Rogers too pressured the second serve winning nine of 10 second-serve return points while edging out a contested set 6-4 with 4 breakpoints.

While Rogers hit 4 winners to 6 unforced errors in the first set, the 29-year-old from Charleston turned it around in the second set, hitting nine winners to six unforced errors in a smart, contained performance. Ostapenko hit 14 winners in the middle frame but misfired on 18 unforced errors.

The final set was an exchange of missed opportunities. Ostapenko found herself down 1-3 after having points to be 3-0 up. The Latvian had break point for a 2-0 lead but slammed an overhead wide, giving Rogers a reprieve. Then, serving at 1-1, she failed to close a 40-15 lead due to back-to-back unforced errors and a double fault on her third game point. Rogers was able to break for the seventh time in the match and consolidate for a 3-1 lead.

With Ostapenko reeling, Rogers had four chances to build a seemingly insurmountable lead. With Ostapenkpo serving at 1-3, Rogers earned four break points but could not convert. From 0-40 down, Ostapenko fired two clean winners and earned a missed return to get to deuce. She then saved a fourth break point by pulling Rogers side to side to earn a forehand in the net and went on to hold to 2-3. 

“I think from 1-3 down, Love-40, I played like a top player,” Ostapenko said. “Before I was rushing too much, making some unforced errors not in the right moments.”

Having quelled Rogers’ surge, Ostapenko took control, reeling off the final four games to seal her comeback and book her spot in the semifinals.

Ostapenko feeling fresh: “It’s really great because especially after I couldn’t play US Open, I was really sad about it because I was in such a great form before,” Ostapenko said. “I think it’s another great opportunity because it’s a big tournament. I just enjoy it. It’s the last couple of tournaments this season. I’m just going to try to enjoy it as much as possible.

“I honestly feel like I can continue the season much longer, but there are not many tournaments left. Most of the players are very tired, but I don’t feel like that. I’m kind of feeling very fresh.”

Watch the Indian Wells quarterfinal encounter Ostapenko vs Rogers.