World No 1 Iga Świątek successfully continued her Indian Wells title defense by defeating Emma Raducanu with a score of 6-3, 6-1. This victory has set up a quarter-final encounter against unseeded Romanian Sorana Cîrstea. Świątek faced early pressure in the opening set but held her ground with clean ball striking, eventually taking a 3-2 lead. She further raised her level to break Raducanu’s serve in the next game and began pulling away. If she can win the title, Świątek will become the second female player to successfully defend the Indian Wells title after Martina Navratilova in 1990-91.
In the men’s draw, Cameron Norrie powered his way into the quarter-finals of the ATP tournament with a commanding straight-sets victory over sixth seed Andrey Rublev, winning 6-2, 6-4. The match began with three successive service breaks, and then Norrie held to take control of the first set. Norrie broke again in the third game of the second set and appeared to have the match won when he broke Rublev again to lead 5-2 on serve. However, Rublev managed to strike back, saving a match point to break Norrie’s serve for a second time. Norrie remained composed and closed out the match with a love hold. He will face Frances Tiafoe in the last eight after Tiafoe defeated Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo 6-4, 6-4.
Jack Draper’s run at the tournament in California came to an abrupt end as he retired hurt early in the second set of his last-16 clash with world No 2 Carlos Alcaraz. Draper struggled with an abdominal injury throughout the match and ultimately decided to retire.
Daniil Medvedev advanced to the quarter-finals with a gutsy 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-5 victory over Alexander Zverev, extending his winning streak to 17 matches. Medvedev suffered an ankle injury in the second set and will need a scan to determine whether he can continue in the tournament. If he’s able to play, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina awaits him in the quarter-finals after the Spaniard defeated Chile’s Cristian Garin 6-3, 6-4. Taylor Fritz also advanced to the last eight, seeing off Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics in straight sets.
In the women’s draw, Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka set up a quarter-final clash after defeating Rebecca Peterson and Barbora Krejcikova respectively in three-set battles. Greece’s Maria Sakkari also booked her last-eight place with a hard-fought 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 win over Karolina Pliskova.
