Kasatkina beats Williams; Osaka ousts Halep at Indian Wells
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — The future is now at the BNP Paribas Open.
Daria Kasatkina upset Venus Williams 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a nearly three-hour baseline struggle and Naomi Osaka routed top-ranked Simona Halep 6-3, 6-0 in 64 minutes on Friday night to set up a final between two 20-year-olds.
“We are coming,” Kasatkina said, smiling. “Very soon.”
Kasatkina was two points from defeat, trailing 4-5 and 0-30 in the third set when Williams committed four straight errors as the Russian tied it 5-all.