The definitive story coming out of the 10 days at Indian Wells is not that Naomi Osaka overpowered an error-prone, perhaps tired Daria Kasatkina in an anticlimactic final that belied the playmaking and sometimes drama of the matches they played to get there. The defining story is this:
Paraphrasing Bob Dylan:
The line it is drawn
The new time is cast
The young ones now
Are ever so fast
And the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'
And the first one now
May later be last
For the times they are a-changin.'
The massacre of the top-ten professional women tennis players in the world at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells 2018 will not soon be forgotten. Seven of them fell to opponents with an average age of 19.5 years. Two 20-year olds took out five of them. One 22 years old took out one and a 16 year-old took out another. Five of the seven were Grand Slam Champions. Four of the five were multiple Grand Slam Champions.
We saw them coming and we knew they were going to hit sometime and at Indian Wells they all hit at the same time - a splash that is still reverberating throughout the tennis world. Who are they? If you were following the tournament, you know. If not, here they are:
Daria Kasatkina:
Coming into Indian Wells Daria Kasatkina was ranked #19 in the world. This young Russian player wasn't new on the radar screens but when, at St. Petersburg, she beat the newly-crowned #1 Caroline Wozniacki, fresh off her first Grand Slam victory at Melbourne Park, and then took down, in Dubai, Aga Radwanska, Jo Konta, reigning Indian Wells Champ Elena Vesnina, and then the reigning Wimbledon Champ Garbine Muguruza, her blip on the radar screens got substantially more robust. But these were just warm-ups for her performance at Indian Wells. In straight sets, she took out the reigning US Open Champion Sloane Stephens, Wozniacki again, demolished Angelique Kerber, and then in a thrill-packed 3-set semi she outlasted an exhausted Venus Williams to put herself into the final. She took out 3 of the top ten - 4 Grand Slam Champs. She's 20 years old and is now ranked #11 in the world.
Naomi Osaka:
Everybody knew that Naomi Osaka had a big game. She came into Indian Wells ranked #44 off a quarterfinal run in Dubai and reaching the second week at Melbourne Park during which time she toppled 3 top-20 opponents. She wasted no time displaying her power in Indian Wells taking out Maria Sharapova, Aga Radwanska, Karolina Pliskova, and Simona Halep, the reigning #1, among others. She took out 2 of the top ten. She's 20 years old and is now ranked #22 in the world and is the Champion of Indian Wells.
Sachia Vickery:
World #3, Garbine Muguruza, up a set and 3-0, 40-0 got caught in the turbulence of a turnaround that was so fast even her zoned-in opponent Sachia Vikery seemed bewildered by it. But the zone held on to the 22 year-old who posted her first top-ten win. This young lady can hit and with consistency. She was the 2013 USTA National Junior Champion. Vickery's performance at Indian Wells elevated her from #100 to #89 in the rankings.
Amanada Anisimova:
World #9 Petra Kvitova had been on fire with a 14-match winning streak that was emphatically extinguished in two sets by 16 year-old Amanda Anisimova who came into Indian Wells ranked #149. She was runner-up at the 2016 Junior French Open and is the reigning Junior US Open Champion. She is now ranked #130 and moving up fast.
Those were the top-ten slayers. But there are others. 19 year-old Aryna Sabalenka took out Svetlana Kuznetsova, another 2-time Grand Slam Champion. 18 year-old Sofya Zhuk beat Alize Cornet and Magdalena Rybarikova. 19 year-old Caroline Dolehide beat Dominica Cibulkova, and the old lady of the bunch at 24, Danielle Collins, who moved into the top 100 at #93, stopped Madison Keys.
We can only wonder what the top-ten list will look like a year from now. But as a writer of the WTA tennis scene, I will not prophesize, but I will keep my eyes wide.
Again, paraphrasing Bob Dylan:
Come tennis writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin.'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin.'
Anyway, that's how I see it.
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