Indian Wells: Paula Badosa books showdown against history-maker Jabeur in SF
Oct 15, 2021
California [USA], October 15 : Paula Badosa continued her impressive form at the BNP Paribas Open in Thursday's night session on Stadium 1, blasting her way past 2019 runner-up Angelique Kerber, 6-4, 7-5 to reach her second WTA 1000 semifinal of the season.
Indian Wells is Badosa's second WTA 1000 semifinal of the season, having advanced to the same stage at the Madrid Open in May.
Earlier in the day, Ons Jabeur earned her own place in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open with an impressive 7-5, 6-3 victory over Anett Kontaveit -- but more than that, she's officially through to the Top 10 in the WTA Rankings thanks to the quarterfinal win.
Jabeur, who has been in the midst of a breakthrough season with consistent results and a maiden WTA title, will become the first Arab woman to rank within the world's ten best women's tennis players when the WTA Rankings are released on Monday -- yet another piece of history achieved by the shot-making Tunisian.
Also, by cracking the final four in the California desert, Jabeur is into the semifinals of a WTA 1000 event for the first time in her career. Her three previous appearances in a WTA 1000 quarterfinal ended in defeat.
In a battle between the tournament's No. 21 and No. 12 seed, Badosa and Jabeur (respectively) will play for a spot in their first career WTA 1000 final -- and fans can expect an absolute firecracker of a match.
