Unseeded Bianca Andreescu stuns Angelique Kerber in three sets to win Indian Wells singles title

Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu stunned eighth-seeded Angelique Kerber 6-4 3-6 6-4 to win the BNP Paribas Open and capture her first career title in Indian Wells on Sunday (March 17).

Andreescu used creative and aggressive shot-making to defeat the German despite suffering with a troublesome right shoulder on a hot and sunny day in the Southern California desert.

The 18-year-old dropped her racket and fell on her back when Kerber hit a backhand into the net on match point to deliver the tournament wildcard the biggest win of her young career.

Andreescu played fearlessly at the outset, breaking the former world number one Kerber, seeded eighth, in the opening game of the match and taking the first set.

Kerber battled back to claim the second and looked like she would cruise to the finish line when she broke to go up 3-2 in the third after Andreescu needed a medical time out to have her heavily taped right shoulder worked on by a trainer.

Momentum swung in Andreescu's direction when she broke back to level the set at 3-3 and held serve to love in the next game.

Nerves appeared to get to the Canadian near the end, when Kerber saved three match points behind some stout defence.

But Andreescu broke the German in the next game to win the title on the 14,000-seat stadium court.

With the win, Andreescu, who was ranked 152 at the end of last season, is expected to reach the WTA top 30.