Iga Swiatek’s highly-anticipated match-up against Emma Raducanu in the fourth round at Indian Wells on Tuesday ended with the world no. 1’s emphatic victory. The Pole won 6-3, 6-1 in 84 minutes to move into the quarter-finals.
Swiatek won 88% of her first-serve points and 56% of points on return on the Briton’s serve. The defending BNP Paribas Open champion had a blip while it came to winning points off her second serves and was able to win only six of 14 points. She, however, won 10 of 20 points on return on Raducanu’s second serve.
The top seed had 22 winners for the match, 13 more than her opponent’s nine and 14 unforced errors, eight fewer than Raducanu’s 22. Swiatek also saved both break points she faced while converting four breakpoint chances on the 2021 US Open’s serve.
Looking to make it to her second consecutive semi-final in the tournament and thus, taking one more step closer towards defending her title, Swiatek will play Sorana Cirstea next. The Romanian scored a huge upset in her fourth-round clash, beating fifth seed Caroline Garcia, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
Indian Wells: Aryna Sabalenka regains briefly lost momentum
Meanwhile, second seed Aryna Sabalenka also reached the quarter-finals at the bottom of the draw. Sabalenka completed a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win over 16th seed Barbora Krejcikova after more than two hours of play. In doing so, the world no. 2 also evened the score against the Czech, who’d defeated her at the Dubai Open quarter-finals thus ending her unbeaten streak this season.
Sabalenka’s next opponent will be sixth seed Coco Gauff. The American put a stop to Swede’s Rebecca Peterson’s highs in the event with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 victory in their round-of-16 match.
Petra Kvitova survived four match points to oust third seed Jessica Pegula in their fourth-round meeting. The Czech, seeded 15th, eventually prevailed 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(11) after two hours and 14 minutes. Kvitova will play seventh seed Maria Sakkari next. The Greek overcame Kvitova’s compatriot, 17th seed Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.
The last quarter-final at Indian Wells will be played between Karolina Muchova and 10th seed Elena Rybakina. Muchova won the Czech derby against Marketa Vondrousova 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-4. Rybakina got past Varvara Gracheva 6-3, 6-0.
Photo Credit: Indian Wells Twitter
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