Serena outdoes Azarenka in a second-round Indian Wells slugfest

In a second-round match worthy of a Grand Slam final, Serena Williams battled past Victoria Azarenka in a tight two-setter at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday night, 7-5, 6-3.

When the draw was made, it was the potential second-rounder everyone was talking about—not just because it would be between two former world No. 1s and Grand Slam champions, but because they had met in Grand Slam finals, with Serena beating Azarenka in the 2012 and 2013 US Open finals. Both women are also two-time champions at the BNP Paribas Open.

It more than lived up to the hype. After the two held their opening service games, there were four breaks in a row until 3-all. Serena then went up 5-3, but Azarenka caught up to 5-all. Finally, Serena broke the breaking pattern for 6-5—and then broke serve again, ripping a backhand return winner on set point to clinch the marathon 72-minute first set.

Azarenka came out strong in the second set, breaking in the opening game, but Serena broke right back for 1-all and the two stayed on serve for the next five games. This time, American broke a holding pattern at 4-3, breaking for 5-3 and serving it out. The two friends and mothers smiled and hugged at the net.

“I truly love her. She’s a really good friend,” Serena said of Azarenka in her on-court interview. “She’s a fellow mom and she’s a former No. 1 like me. She’s an amazing person. It’s hard to play someone that you’re so close with, but it’s also really invigorating and cool. It was crazy, but it was really cool.”

Azarenka finished the match with cleaner numbers overall: more winners than unforced errors in the match (25 to 24), while Serena had six more unforced errors (39 to 45).

It was a different story in the biggest moments, though, and especially the break points: Serena converted half of the break points she had in the match (6 of 12) while Azarenka converted just 27 percent of hers (4 of 15).

“I definitely didn’t expect to play like this tonight,” Serena commented. “I thought I played well, but playing champions like Victoria makes me realize that I still have a ton of improvement to do.

“But I have the desire to do it, so I’m excited.”

Serena improves to 18-4 in her career against Azarenka, and she avenges a loss in the pair’s last meeting, a 6-4, 6-4 victory for the Belarusian in the final of the 2016 BNP Paribas Open.

Things will not get any easier for the 10th-seeded Serena, as awaiting her in the third round is 20th-seeded Garbine Muguruza, who outdid American Lauren Davis earlier in the day, 6-1, 6-3.

Serena leads Muguruza 3-2 in their head-to-head history, with the Spaniard’s two victories both coming at the French Open—a 6-2, 6-2 win in the 2014 second round, and a 7-5, 6-4 win in the 2016 final. That French Open final victory for Muguruza was the pair’s most recent meeting.