Serena Williams vs. Yulia Putintseva: Score, Reaction from 2016 Indian Wells

After nearly dropping the first set, Serena Williams stormed back for a convincing straight-set win over Yulia Putintseva in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Sunday, 7-6(2), 6-0.

Williams won the match in one hour, 15 minutes and nine seconds to advance to the round of 16, and WTA tweeted this after the match was over:

Despite four aces in the first set, Williams' self-inflicted errors cost her early on. Her two double-faults allowed Putintseva to take a 5-4 lead and gave her a chance to claim the all-important first set. But Williams knotted the set up 5-5.

Shad Powers of the Desert Sun noted the atmosphere of the crowd after Williams avoided losing the first set:   

Boxing legend Mike Tyson was even in attendance to witness Williams' break point to force a tiebreaker, via Tennis TV:

In the end, Williams stormed back to quickly win the first set in tiebreaking fashion, via Tennis TV:

It was one of Williams' powerful serves that provided the point to give her the set, via WTA:

Once Williams completed her comeback in the first set, the second turned out to be a formality. Williams blanked Putintseva after a double-fault-free second set to go along with three aces. She won eight of nine first-service points and won 80 percent of the total service points in the second set.

After a marathon first set that took 50 minutes, it only took 25 minutes for Williams to put Putintseva away, per BBC.com.

Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times thought Williams' second set was her best since January:

Williams now advances to the fourth round, where she will take on Kateryna Bondarenko. Williams has not only played well through these first two matches in the Paribas Open, but they've been quick victories. This matchup took 12 minutes longer than her second-round win, but Williams is doing as much as she can to stay fresh in this tournament. And it appears those quick victories are paying off.

Post-Match Reaction

Williams said she tried to avoid the slow start after a quick match in the second round, but it took longer to match Putintseva's aggressiveness.

"I was just trying to find my rhythm out there, trying my best to not get off to a slow start," Williams said, per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com). "Then I got broken really early, and I couldn't manage to break back. I was just trying to fight out there and do what I could."

When asked how she was able to come back in the first set, Williams went for her inner spirit animal, via the WTA:

And once she got comfortable and could match Putintseva's intensity, Williams channeled her own.

"My intensity was higher, and I started making my shots," she said, per the AP. "I was going for it. I just kept missing it either in the net or missing it out. Really, really close. I started making them, and then I started getting more confidence to continue to go for it, and that kind of helped me out."

Stats courtesy of BNPParibasOpen.com.