Elena Vesnina rewrites Venus' three-set script

Elena Vesnina saw the script that played out in two of Venus Williams' three matches before their quarterfinal clash Thursday night.

Twice this year at the BNP Paribas Open, Williams lost her first set, only to regain her footing and storm back to sweep the final two sets and advance.

So when Vesnina, the 14th-seed from Russia, won the first set easily, she couldn't help but think about Williams' pattern.

Vesnina did lose the second set, but then she rewrote the script. The 30-year-old doubles specialist showed her mental toughness, and outlasted the hard-charging Williams to earn a dramatic 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory.

"You know, when I was up three-love in the first set, (Venus) was missing some easy shots. She looked tired and slow on the court," Vesnina said. "Then, all of a sudden, she started moving around, hitting great shots, winners from all over the place. And in this momentum, I kind of lost my rhythm ... Yeah, so it was not easy. When she won the second set, I was, like, I saw previous matches that she was down with match point with a set point, and I was like, 'Uh-Oh, it's coming back again. I'm going to be another victim of Venus. I don't want. I want to win this. I want this match.'"

In the final game, on her serve, she fell behind love-40, but didn't concede the point that would have put the third set back on serve. She fought back forced it to deuce, and then several more deuces, and finally took advantage of a short ball and put it and Venus away.

Vesnina now holds a 4-2 record against Williams, but this one was special. To put it mildly, she was happy.

"Yeah, I'm in the semifinal of BNP Indian Wells tournament, one of the biggest Masters Series tournament. I guess I'm on fire," she said, laughing. "I'm enjoying myself on the court, and I'm really happy with my wins here. This win today against Venus really means a lot for me. It's never easy to play against her. She's a great champion and always fighting till the end."

This is the first time she's made a singles semifinal here, but she's held up the trophy before. She has won the doubles title here twice, with two different partners. She teamed with Dinara Safina in 2008 to win it all, and in 2011 she won again, this time with Sania Mirza.

For Williams, there was frustration as she was getting close to capturing an elusive title here. It's one of the few empty spots on her Hall of Fame resume. At times, she showed the form that allowed her to make the Australian Open final in January. And at times, playing with a bandaged thigh and wrapped elbow -- although she did not have the elbow wrapped Thursday -- she seemed to show her age.

"Yeah, I had some issues. I mean, it's great to know that I can try to play through what I'm going through and be very competitive," she said.  "I will try my best to be closer to 100 percent in the next tournament."

Venus said despite the loss, that she feels like her 2017 resurgence is something that will carry on. And she'd like to add to her 49 career titles, it just hasn't happened yet.

"I'm looking forward to getting my 50th title, so I think it's going to happen," she said. "It's -- yeah, God willing. When I put the work in, I think it's going to happen very soon."

Vesnina, who followed her win against Venus on Thursday by playing a doubles semifinal, said she's not worried about being tired when she plays in Friday's semifinals where she will face the 28th-seeded Kristina Mladenovic.

"I will be ready for the semifinal, I know how to recover," she said. "You know, I'm not the new player on the tour. I know that I need to recover, like, recover right and recover fast."

WOMEN'S SEMIFINALS

7 p.m. today: 28-Kristina Mladenovic vs. 14-Elena Vesnina

9 p.m. today: 3-Karolina Pliskova vs. 8-Svetlana Kuznetsova