Russian Elena Vesnina’s sparkling Indian Wells campaign continued Friday as she powered into the final with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over rising French star Kristina Mladenovic.
Vesnina, a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year who has reached a career high of 15th in the world at the age of 30, had toppled Germany’s soon-to-be world number one Angelique Kerber in the fourth round and seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams in the quarter-finals.
She’ll face either third-seeded Karolina Pliskova or eighth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova for the title on Sunday.
“(It’s) not every day you have nights like that when you’re in the semi-final of such a prestigious event and fighting for the final,” said Vesnina, who said important doubles wins — including a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics — had helped her big-match composure.
“It’s not easy to hold your nerve. But I’m really happy the way I handled it. I was very focused. I was not thinking about the final. I was just thinking particularly about every single game, every single shot.”
It’s a sharp turnaround from Vesnina’s 2016 Indian Wells experience, when she lost in the first round of qualifying.
Vesnina built commanding leads in each set — 5-0 in the first and 5-1 in the second — and Mladenovic, who claimed a maiden WTA title in St. Petersburg last month before reaching the final in Acapulco, couldn’t find an answer no matter how she tried.
“I really think she was just too good for me today,” said Mladenovic, who went to her slice to no avail before attempting an aggressive serve and volley game late in each set in an bid to regain ground.
“I felt like I had to do kind of crazy points to win,” Mladenovic said. “She didn’t really allow me to put my game on tonight.”
Down a set and three service breaks at 5-1 in the second set, Mladenovic won three straight games — fending off one match point — before Vesnina held serve for the victory.
“Kiki was always trying to play her best tennis when she was behind on the score,” Vesnina said. “It’s not easy to come back from 5-0 and 5-1. It’s not easy at all.”
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