Halep and Swiatek seal quarter-final spots as Badosa continues title defence

Paula Badosa went a step closer to defending her Indian Wells Open title as she ended Leylah Fernandez’s run to reach the quarter-finals.

Badosa was calm under pressure against last year’s US Open runner-up, saving five out of the six breakpoints she offered up in a 6-4 6-4 success.

Matters were less routine for third seed Iga Swiatek, who held her nerve to come back from a set down against three-time major champion Angelique Kerber.

Breakpoints were contested in six of the match’s first eight games and Kerber made the big points count, but Swiatek went on to triumph 4-6 6-2 6-3.

Swiatek, 20, showed grit beyond her years as she broke Kerber’s serve four times in the second set, cleaning up her first-serve percentage while the German was only able to win 31 per cent of her successful first-serves (4-13).

Both women hit over 70 per cent of their first-serves in the final set, with the difference coming down to the return game, where Swiatek won half of her return points (12-24), with Kerber struggling (5-22).

Swiatek will face American Madison Keys, who defeated Harriet Dart in a brisk 69 minutes, while Badosa goes up against Veronika Kudermetova, who overcame Naomi Osaka in contentious circumstances earlier in the tournament.

In an all-Romanian matchup, seeded compatriots Simona Halep and Sorana Cirstea were not awfully competitive after the former world number one dominated early on the way to a 6-1 6-4 victory.

Halep won the first four games of the match, and despite getting broken in the opening game of the second set, she responded swiftly to break back twice and avoid a third set.

Greek world number six Maria Sakkari was given an easy trip through to the quarter-finals after her opponent, lowly-ranked Australian Daria Saville, withdrew due to injury.

Ukrainian Elena Rybakina booked a quarter-final fixture against Sakkari after disposing of Viktorija Golubic.

Rybakina needed only one set point to edge out the first frame 7-6 (7-5) before breaking-to-love to open the second, all but putting the match to bed.

Unseeded Croatian Petra Martic knocked out Ludmilla Samsonova 7-6 (8-6) 6-4, shutting the door in the second set with her brilliant service game.