Navarro saves two match points against Cirstea to win second-round thriller at Indian Wells

American Emma Navarro, the No 10 seed, edged out Romanian Sorana Cirstea 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3) to advance to the third round of the Indian Wells WTA 1000 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Saturday.

Navarro and Cirstea battled hard for two hours, 28 minutes, with the former completing a remarkable comeback as she recovered from a 3-5 deficit in the decider. The American converted all of the five break points she created during the match, averaging 56 percent on the second serve return.

Moreover, Navarro found herself two match points down in the ninth game of the third set but managed to save both and later force a tiebreak, where she cruised home.

“Honestly one of the best atmospheres I’ve played in. Just trying to get the best out of myself on my worst day,” Navarro said after the win.

The eventual winner prevailed in seven of the last ten rallies of the match.

Navarro, ranked No 8, will face Croat Donna Vekic, the No 19 seed, next.

In the previous round of the Indian Wells tournament, Cirstea, ranked No 111, won against Australian qualifier Maya Joint (6-2, 7-5).

Indian Wells WTA 1000, other second-round results (Indian Wells Tennis Garden, hard, USD 8.963.700, most recent results first):

• Diana Shnaider (13) beat Alycia Parks (WC): 6-1, 6-1
• Aryna Sabalenka (1) beat McCartney Kessler: 7-6 (4), 6-3
• Liudmila Samsonova (24) beat Catherine McNally: 7-6 (8), 6-4
• Jaqueline Cristian beat Leylah Fernandez (27): 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3
• Belinda Bencic (WC) beat Amanda Anisimova (17): 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-1
• Daria Kasatkina (12) beat Sofia Kenin: 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
• Elise Mertens (28) beat Kimberly Birrell (Q): 6-4, 7-5
• Sonay Kartal (LL) beat Beatriz Haddad Maia (16): 6-2, 6-1
• Coco Gauff (3) beat Moyuka Uchijima: 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (4)
• Donna Vekic beat Elina Avanesyan: 6-3, 6-3
• Jasmine Paolini (6) beat Iva Jovic (WC): 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-3
• Madison Keys (5) beat Anastasia Potapova: 6-3, 6-0
• Maria Sakkari (29) beat Viktoriya Tomova: 6-0, 6-3
• Polina Kudermetova beat Ekaterina Alexandrova (20): 7-5, 6-2
• Lucia Bronzetti beat Magdalena Frech (30): 6-3, 7-5
• Qinwen Zheng (8) beat Victoria Azarenka: 6-3, 6-4
• Danielle Collins (14) beat Hailey Baptiste (Q): 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
• Mirra Andreeva (9) beat Varvara Gracheva: 7-5, 6-4
• Elina Svitolina (23) beat Ashlyn Krueger: 6-1, 6-7 (8), 6-3
• Jessica Pegula (4) beat Magda Linette: 6-4, 6-2
• Xinyu Wang beat Jelena Ostapenko (26): 6-4, 6-4
• Iga Swiatek (2) beat Caroline Garcia: 6-2, 6-0
• Caroline Dolehide (WC) beat Eva Lys (LL): 7-6 (3), 6-4
• Lulu Sun beat Linda Noskova (31): 6-1, 6-4
• Dayana Yastremska beat Ons Jabeur (32): 6-3, 6-1
• Clara Tauson (22) beat Camila Osorio: 7-6 (3), 7-5
• Katerina Siniakova beat Yulia Putintseva (21): 6-2, 6-2
• Karolina Muchova (15) beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto: 6-4, 6-3
• Marta Kostyuk (18) beat Robin Montgomery (WC): 6-1, 6-3
• Katie Boulter (25) beat Irina-Camelia Begu: 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-0
• Elena Rybakina (7) beat Suzan Lamens: 6-3, 6-3

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