World No 1 Iga Swiatek continued her Indian Wells title defense with a 6-3 6-1 win over Ema Raducanu on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals against unseeded Romanian Sorana Cristea.
Swiatek came under pressure in the opening set but some clean ball striking helped her lead 3-2 after two tight service games. He raised his level further to break Radukaanu in the next game before taking the lead.
After ending the first set when Radukanu sent a long shot from the baseline, Swiatek broke early in the second, putting the pressure on the Briton, whose unforced errors began to mount.
Swiatek, who is bidding to become only the second female player since Martina Navratilova in 1990-91 to successfully defend the Indian Wells title, played flawless tennis and raced her opponent to open up a 5-1 lead.
The reigning US Open champion closed out the win when Raducanu hit the net on one end serve to cap off her stellar run in the Southern California desert.
Earlier in the day, Coco Gauff came back from a break down in the final set to beat Sweden’s Rebecca Petersson 6-3 1-6 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals for the first time.
After taking the first set, the sixth-seeded American began to struggle with his forehand in the second and an opportunistic Petersen came into the net to apply pressure.
But after suffering an early break in the decider, Gauff stepped up her defence, defending three break points at 4–4 and breaking Peterson for the fourth time on match point to seal her place in the last eight.
Gauff, who turned 19 on Monday, was later greeted with a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ by the crowd.
Gough said, “Today, it was just a mental thing, staying in the match.”
“I wasn’t playing my best at some moments and I wasn’t serving like I wanted to, but I think my mindset is what kept me going today.”