Sabalenka Sent Out At Indian Wells Masters; QFs Today – Swiatek v Wozniacki, Alcaraz v Zverev

Aryna Sabalenka has won the last two Australian Opens but the Belarussian star has never won Indian Wells only once make it even to the quarterfinals.

Yesterday, the world No. 2 was bounced by rising American Emma Navarro 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 to reach her biggest career quarterfinal.

“Feeling excited,” Navarro said. “I’ve worked really hard over the years to kind of just get to this point and be able to play at a level that can compete with the best players in the world. I think that showed today. Yeah, just excited to get the win. I’m ready for the next one.”

Navarro, a former NCAA champion from the University of Virginia, was her trademark cool and calm self as she watched Sabalenka implode late in the match with a flurry of misfires.

“I love to scramble, I love to get scrappy, as my coach says. It’s one of the things that I love the most about the game. Just kind of that cat-and-mouse aspect of sort of playing,” Navarro added.

Sabalenka nearly had to save four match points in her opener against Peyton Stearns. This time she bit the bullet.

“I would say that I didn’t play my best tennis. She played some great tennis,” Sabalenka said after.

“This year Indian Wells I didn’t feel my best on these courts. I tried to adjust. We tried to work on couple of things, make sure I’m there and I’m fighting for this title. I mean, I would say that we did our best and we’ll learn. We’ll work a little bit more on the movement, and hopefully I’ll be ready for Miami.”

Coco Gauff rolled on her 20th birthday appropriately by a score of 0 and 2 over Elise Mertens. Maria Sakkari also advanced to the quarterfinals.

In the men’s draw, former finalist Daniil Medvedev eased past Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-4. Holger Rune and Casper Ruud both came from a set down in their wins.

Rune ousted former winner Taylor Fritz 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 while Ruud topped Gael Monfils 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4.

And Luca Nardi had no follow-up against Tommy Paul in a 6-4, 6-3 loss.

Today, in a rare occurrence, all eight quarterfinals will be played on the same day. That includes Carlos Alcaraz resuming his title defense against nemesis Alexander Zverev and Medvedev meeting Rune.

Former champion Iga Swiatek takes on Caroline Wozniacki

THURSDAY INDIAN WELLS SCHEDULE
Stadium 1 – 11 a.m.
Anastasia Potapova vs. Marta Kostyuk
Iga Swiatek vs. Caroline Wozniacki

Not before 3 p.m.
Alexander Zverev vs. Carlos Alcaraz
6 p.m.
Daniil Medvedev vs. Holger Rune

Stadium 2
Jiri Lehecka vs. Jannik Sinner
Not before 12:30 p.m.
Tommy Paul vs. Casper Ruud
3 p.m.
Coco Gauff vs. Yue Yuan
6 p.m.
Emma Navarro vs. Maria Sakkari

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