Sport

WTA rides on ‘the coat-tails’ of the men’s game according to India Wells CEO

Victoria Azarenka’s shock defeat of Serena Williams overshadowed by comments

Serena Williams sticks out her tongue as Victoria Azarenka poses with the trophy following their final match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California. Photograph: Daniel Murphy/EPA
Sun Mar 20 2016 - 23:33

Victoria Azarenka pulled off a shock in the Indian Wells women’s final as she beat the world number one Serena Williams in straight sets. That, however, was overshadowed after the CEO of Indian Wells Tennis Garden, which hosts the tournament, said he believes the WTA rides on “the coat-tails” of the men’s game.

“When I come back in my next life I want to be someone in the WTA because they ride on the coat-tails of the men,“ said Raymond Moore. “They don’t make any decisions and they are lucky. They are very, very lucky.

“If I was a lady player, I’d go down every night on my knees and thank God that Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal were born because they have carried this sport. They really have.”

Moore wasn’t finished there, however. After describing Eugenie Bouchard and Garbine Muguruza as “attractive prospects“, he was asked whether he meant they were impressive physically or competitively.

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“I mean both,” Moore said. “They are physically and competitively attractive. They can assume the mantle of leadership once Serena decides to stop. They really have quite a few very, very attractive players.

Opening set

Former world number one Azarenka took advantage of an error-prone display by Serena Williams to win her second BNP Paribas Open title with a 6-4 6-4 victory in in California.

The 26-year-old Belarusian broke the top-seeded American once in the opening set and twice in the second before wrapping up the win in just under 90 minutes in front of a stunned sun-baked crowd.

World number one Williams, seeking a third title at Indian Wells after winning her second a distant 15 years ago, was badly let down by her forehand, though she did mount a late fightback and broke Azarenka in the eighth game of the second set for 3-5.

The American came close to levelling with Azarenka, serving for the match, wobbling at 15-40 but the Belarusian fired an ace, got to deuce when Williams hit a backhand long and clinched victory when her opponent hit a forehand service return long.

Visibly emotional

A visibly emotional Azarenka, the 13th seed who claimed her first Indian Wells crown in 2012, was able to celebrate her fourth victory over Williams in a WTA final, and a 19th career title.

“I had no doubt in my mind that I will give everything I can,” said Azarenka in a courtside interview about the see-sawing final game of the match.

“I couldn’t control how she was going to play and she was throwing some bombs there.

“But I stayed tough because it‘s the only way to win, to stay strong, to keep doing what’s been working. I just wanted to work hard, give it my all, and it worked.“

Williams was also emotional, having won at Indian Wells in 1999 and 2001 before taking a self-imposed 14-year exile from the event amidst allegations of racial abuse from fans after her sister Venus withdrew minutes before their semi-final showdown that year.

“It was really hard, the last moment I had here wasn’t the greatest moment, so thank you so much,“ the 34-year-old told the crowd. “Thank you so much for the cheers, I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”