At just 18 years old, Canadian tennis player Bianca Andreescu topped three-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1 Angelique Kerber for her first tour title over the weekend. After winning seven matches over 12 days, Andreescu became the youngest Indian Wells champion since Serena Williams in 1999.

Bianca Andreescu Addresses indian wells Performance

“It’s definitely a blur right now,” Andreescu said on the WTA Insider Podcast. “I didn’t get a chance to soak anything in yet. But it’s incredible what I have accomplished this whole entire week –  two weeks! I’ve never played a tournament this long before. Being able to compete in front of such an amazing crowd at this incredible tournament, it’s definitely the Fifth Slam. And being able to play against top-level players, it really is a dream come true.”

Though most Canadians couldn’t watch the young rising star on television, that didn’t stop them from heaping praise on her.

“Bianca Andreescu just made history. Congratulations,” Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, posted on Twitter.

While she was ranked No. 60 before the tournament, Andreescu is now at No. 24. She also more than quadrupled her career prize money, earning $1,354,010 for her victory.

30 SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2018 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW

Following the tournament, the WTA Insider podcast sat down with her. Before her win, Andreescu proclaimed that she could win multiple majors and be a World No. 1 at some point. When asked how she stayed focused throughout the last two weeks, she responded: “Yeah, definitely it’s that’s not easy, but I have a good team around me that help me stay grounded and I have amazing parents and friends that do the same. But I really do believe that I deserve to be here and I think I proved that this week. So hopefully a lot of other good things can come in my career.”

Andreescu was then asked if she thought she could win the title when the tournament began. Contrary to what you might think, the 18-year-old didn’t. She said: “No, no, no. Every tournament I go into though, I want to win of course. But no, I really — because in the first round I really I thought I was going to lose that match because I was so shaky from the beginning.”

“But then after I started winning more and more matches I’m like OK I think there’s a really good shot. And like I said I’ve been picturing myself holding this trophy for so long. And everything is paying off and everything is so worth it.”

WTA Insider also asked about her strategy on the court. They were curious how much of her game is improvised versus planned out.

“Well you really never know what your opponent’s gonna bring,” Andreescu said. “But obviously I do have different tactics in the back of my mind. It really depends on who I play, obviously, but my main thing is just changing the rhythm and then see what my opponent does and re-evaluate during the match.”

Roger Federer defeated fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 7-5 in the BNP Paribas Open in California on Sunday to claim his fifth Indian Wells title.

Roger Federer Wins BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Masters

World no. 10 Federer, the 2017 Australian Open champion and an 18-time Grand Slam winner, was broken for the first time at Indian Wells in the first game of the second set.

Wawrinka, the World no. three, got ahead 2-0 before Federer won three straight games to secure his trophy, his 90th career title.

Federer, 35 is now the oldest champion in the tournament’s history, surpassing Jimmy Connors, who was 31 when he triumphed in 1984. He has defeated Wawrinka 20 times out of 23 meetings.

“This has been a fairy tale week,” said Federer. “It’s a beautiful feeling. Maybe it’s not as surprising as Australia but it’s still great to back it up by winning in America.

“It’s a dream start to the year. I have totally exceeded my expectations. It’s been an unbelievable start to the year.”

On the women’s side, 14th-seeded Russian Elena Vesnina claimed the title after beating her eight-seeded compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-7 (6-8) 7-5 6-4 in Sunday’s final.

The first set alone lasted 71 minutes, and Kuznetsova won it via a tiebreaker.

Vesnina trailed 4-1 in the second set before winning four consecutive games to force a deciding set.

She trailed 4-2 in that set but again won four straight games to secure her victory. Vesnina, 30, was playing in her first final at a ‘Premier Mandatory’ event— those at Indian Wells, Key Biscayne, Madrid and Beijing.

Kuznetsova has now lost three finals at Indian Wells, having also finished second in 2007 and 2008.

INDIAN WELLS, CA – MARCH 19: Roger Federer of Switzerland hits a forehand against Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in the men’s final during day fourteen of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 19, 2017 in Indian Wells, California.(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Australian Nick Kyrgios upset World No. 2 Novak Djokovic for the second time in two weeks with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) victory at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Wednesday.

Nick Kyrgios Upsets Novak Djokovic at BNP Paribas Open, Federer Beats nadal

Kyrigos, 21, also defeated Djokovic at the Mexican Open in Acapulco 12 days earlier, and will next face Roger Federer in the quarter-finals.

Federer claimed his third straight win over longtime rival Rafael Nadal, winning 6-2, 6-3.

“I did very well today, I’m so pleased I’m able to step into the court and play super aggressive,” said Federer, who beat Nadal in just 68 minutes. “Coming over the backhand has been part of that.”

“It’s a nice feeling to win the last three. I can tell you that,” added the Swiss, a four-time Indian Wells champion. “But most importantly, I won Australia. That was big for me.

“For me, it was all about coming out and trying to play the way I did in Australia. I didn’t think it was going to be that possible, to be quite honest, because the court is more jumpy here so it’s hard to put the ball away.”

Kyrgios, meanwhile, said he felt confident in what his goal was coming into his match against Djokovic, whom he praised.

“It feels good. I knew what I had to do today,” Kyrgios said. “It was always going to be tough – he is a great champion.”

The Australian— who was suspended and fined earlier this year due to lack of efforts in previous matches— recorded 25 aces against 12-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic in Mexico, and got 14 in California on Wednesday. Kyrgios also hit 25 winners past his Serbian opponent, who was incapable of attaining a single break point chance against the World No. 16. Kyrgios crashed out of the Australian Open in January after losing to Italian Andreas Seppi in the second round.

Djokovic, who has won the BNP Paris Open three consecutive years, had previously been undefeated in 20 matches at Indian Wells.

“The run was amazing,” Djokovic said. “It had to end at some stage. Unfortunately, it was today.”

Also on Wednesday at Indian Wells, Japanese fourth-seed Kei Nishikori beat American Donald Young 6-2, 6-4, while No. 21-seed Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta and Argentine 27th seed Pablo Cuevas also advanced to the quarter-finals.

American 17th seed Jack Sock fought past Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri 4-6 7-6 (7-1) 7-5.

Finally, Austrian eighth seed Dominic Thiem defeated France’s Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-2. Thiem will now face Swiss Stan Wawrinka, a three-time grand slam champion who saw off world No. 70 Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 3-6 6-3 7-6 after two hours and 13 minutes of play.

On the women’s side, eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova swept past fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 6-2 to reach the women’s semifinals. Kuznetsova will next face Czech third seed Karolina Pliskova, who beat out Spaniard Garbine Muguruza, the 2016 French Open Champion, 7-6, 7-6.

Denmark’s No. 13-seed Caroline Wozniacki beat ninth-seeded American Madison Keys 6-4, 6-4. Wozniacki will now face 28th-seeded Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic in Thursday’s quarterfinal.

No. 12 Venus Williams and 14th-seeded Russian Elena Vesnina in Thursday’s other quarter-final.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 18: Nick Kyrgios of Australia serves in his second round match against Andreas Seppi of Italy on day three of the 2017 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 18, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are set to play each other in a fourth-round match at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California on Wednesday night.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal to Meet in BNP Paribas Open Fourth Round

The match, which will feature one of tennis’ greatest rivalries, comes two months after Federer defeated Nadal in the Australian Open final to secure his record-extending 18th Grand Slam title.

No. 5 seed Nadal, a 14-time major champion, beat fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 7-5, while ninth-seeded Federer topped American Steve Johnson 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-4).

Despite losing his last two matches against Federer, Nadal still holds a 23-12 edge overall in their head-to-heads and Indian Wells has been his most successful hard-court Masters tournament. The two last played at the BNP Open in 2013.

Federer lost in Dubai in February to Russian Evgeny Donskoy, the World No. 99, squandering several leads.

Nadal, on the other hand, finished well at his only post-Australian Open tournament, reaching the final in Acapulco. However, the 30-year-old Spaniard lost the final to American Sam Querrey to extend his hard court title drought to three years.

Also at Indian Wells this week, Novak Djokovic defeated Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro, while German Angelique Kerber, who is set to become world number one, has been eliminated.

Kerber fell to Russian Elena Vesnina 3-6,3-6.

There is set to be a new winner on the women’s side of the BNP Paribas Open this year.

Serena Williams vs. Simona Halep: Recap, Reaction From 2016 Indian Wells

World No. 1 Serena Williams defeated defending Romanian champion Simona Halep (world No. 5) in the quarterfinals at Indian Wells on Wednesday.

Williams, 34, only needed two sets to beat the 2015 champion, 6-4, 6-3.

Williams had seven aces while Halep, 24, only had one. The American also won 81 percent of her first-service points, and proved to be too much for Halep throughout the two sets.

Williams bowed out in last year’s BNP Paribas Open semifinal against the Romanian due to an injury.

During the quarterfinal match, Williams established a 5-2 lead, but Halep came back to narrow the lead to 5-4. However, Williams closed out the set with a critical break to make it 6-4. Andrew Jerell Jones of SB Nation commented on the first set:

 Williams will next face off against Polish Agnieszka Radwanska, 27, (World No. 2) in the semifinals. Radwanska defeated Czech Petra Kvitova in the quarterfinals in straight sets 6-2, 7-6. According to SteveGTennis.com, Williams holds a dominant 9-0 lead in head-to-head showdowns against Radwanska, and the last six alone were in straight-sets fashion.

After her win at Indian Wells, Williams discussed playing in the BNP Paribas Open for the second year in a row. “This year I’m not as nervous and I’m just excited to return again,” Williams said. “Every time I step on the court and people cheer for me, it’s just a different feeling.” Regarding her upcoming semifinal game against Radwanska, Williams also stated, “This is a good surface for her because it’s a slow surface. I expect there will be a lot of long rallies.”

The WTA also shared the final point of the opening set:

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 18: Serena Williams of the United States plays a forehand in her first round match against Camila Giorgi of Italy during day one of the 2016 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 18, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Hot off of her 19th grand slam victory in Australia, Serena Williams made a monumental announcement: she will be returning to the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells after a 14-year boycott. Now, the Indian Wells incident is such a long time ago that plenty of people have probably forgotten what actually happened.

Serena was supposed to play her sister in the semifinal match, but Venus was reportedly injured: though the injury was allegedly told  to the officials well before the allotted time, they did not make the announcement until minutes before the match was supposed to begin. As a result, during the finals between Serena and Kim Clijsters, the Indian Wells fans angrily jeered Williams from beginning to end. They even cheered unforced errors and double faults as the tournament director and umpire sat idly by.

The sisters’ coach and father Richard Williams told the media racist comments were being constantly thrown at him throughout the entirety of the final.  Without an apology or any action, Serena Williams vowed never to return to Indian Wells.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE_xaNziaf4

But 14 years later, Serena Williams believes she has grown enough to handle the drama that comes with Indian Wells. In a YouTube video announcing this monumental decision, Serena stated, “I no longer want an unfortunate single incident to overshadow all the great memories that my family has created there.”

Williams  will use the event as a way to shed light on one of her charities, the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). Donating to the charity will enter fans in a contest to join her in Indian Wells. The charity “provides legal representation to indigent defendants and prisoners who have been denied fair and just treatment in the legal system,” according to Williams.

In what has just become one of the biggest tennis stories of the year, uSports will continue to cover all the events leading up to the March 11 start date.