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"I took already tickets to home": Sasnovich surprised after defeating Halep at the BNP Paribas Open

The Belarusian will take on her third consecutive Grand Slam champion when she faces Azarenka on Tuesday.

ByNiko Vercelletto

Published Oct 12, 2021

For many players, going up against a Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1 is terrifying. Aliaksandra Sasnovich is no different. That's why she never expected to be moving on to the Round of 16 at the BNP Paribas Open.

During her post-match interview after defeating Simona Halep in straight sets, the Belarusian cracked a joke, claiming that she booked her plane ticket back home after three major champions sat in her quarter of the draw.

"I book already tickets to home," she said after her win. "You never know! 70% chance for her, 30% chance for me to beat, but ok I go and just enjoy...and I won! Wow."

Sasnovich squared off against Halep just once before at Wimbledon in 2019, and she fell in straight sets. This time she managed to post almost an identical scoreline from her grass-court loss to the Romanian, grabbing a 7-5, 6-4 win.

The 27-year-old is having a strong run at Indian Wells, defeating not only the two-time major champion, but the most recent US Open champion Emma Raducanu in the second round.

Now, she has her third major winner to defeat in two-time Slam champ Victoria Azarenka on Tuesday.