Sachia Vickery Rallies for Win Over No. 3 Garbine Muguruza at the BNP Paribas Open
(March 9, 2018) INDIAN WELLS, California – United States qualifier Sachia Vickery had the biggest win of her career on Friday night at the BNP Paribas Open. Vickery who for the first time is in the top 100, stunned No. 3 Garbine Muguruza 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 after trailing 6-2, 3-0, 40-0. This is the year-old’s first victory over a Top Five player. Before this, the highest ranked player that American had ever beaten was ranked No. 28 – Agnieszka Radwanska earlier this year in Auckland.
After building such a big lead, the Spaniard Muguruza looked to have an easy night. However, Vickery, along with the fans who supported her and cheered her on, made their presence felt and seemed to have lifted her up to make her way back into the match which lasted two-hours and 12 minutes.
“Even when I was down maybe a set and 3-0, they were still behind me and cheering after every single point, ” Vickery told media. “Then when I won the second set, I have never heard a louder kind of applause, and it really got my going.
“Honestly, I think they pulled me through it, because, you know, I was struggling a little bit physically toward the end. They really kept my spirits up.”
“I just tried to fight every points and hand in there. The crowd was so amazing and gor behind me, and the atmosphere really helped me even though I was feeling it a little bit physically,” Vickery said in her on-court interview after the match.”
“I think at 3-0, we had a few really long points. I actually got the break, and I was like, ‘Run, put the ball in and do your best.’ I’ve just worked so hard for so many years and I’ve been so close…and this is just the most amazing night of my life and I couldn’t be happier.”
“I just worked so hard all these years and I just never go over the hump. This is the greatest night of my life. I just can’t believe it.”
“This is just the most amazing night of my life and I couldn’t be happier,” said the 22-year-old”
“It was a very tough match, I would say that, Muguruza said. “I think she really came back playing much better. I think she — you know, at the game of 3-1, she started playing much better, and she kind of believed a little bit more and start hitting better shots.
“And maybe I did couple mistakes here and there, and she, you know, took advantage of that. And with the match, I think she was raising her level more and more.”
“Just think that I’m going to learn a lot from this match. I’m going to watch it and I’m going to see what went wrong.
“I think it’s very important because, today, I felt I was in control, and, you know, it slipped away a little bit from me. So I will definitely watch it and see exactly what happened.”
Vickery will be playing another youngster – 20-year-old Naomi Osaka of Japan. Osaka who beat Maria Sharapova on Wednesday, defeated seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-2.
“Definitely doesn’t do anything bad for it (my confidence)” Osaka said of the wins this week. Well, I mean, it makes me confident but not — I don’t want to be overconfident, because I feel like that’s when people start — like, the self-doubt from there could only go down.
“So I just — I want to be consistent at this level. I think that’s the first thing I want to work on. Other than that, I’m just trying to go, like, one point at a time and one match at a time.”
Sixteen-year-old wildcard, former US Open Junior champion Amanda Anisimova knocked out No. 23 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-1. This is just her second win on the WTA main tour. Her first came earlier in the week against Pauline Parmentier.
