Indian Wells: Sabalenka avenges Dubai loss against Krejcikova to set up Gauff quarter-final clash

Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed, had payback on her mind as she faced Czech Barbora Krejcikova, the No 16 seed, in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Tuesday.

Krejcikova, a former French Open champion, is the only player to beat Sabalenka in 2023 – winning their quarter-final clash in Dubai last month.

This time, Sabalenka managed to avenge that loss, coming out a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 winner at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden to improve to 15-1 for the season. She now leads Krejcikova 3-1 in their career head-to-head.

Sabalenka, ranked No 2, will face American Coco Gauff, the No 6 seed, next. The Belarusian will be hoping for some more payback with Gauff winning three of the four encounters between the two, including their last two meetings.

The Belarusian won against Russian Evgeniya Rodina (6-2, 6-0) and Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko (W/O) ahead of her victory on Tuesday.

In the previous rounds, Krejcikova, ranked No 16, defeated Ukrainian wildcard Dayana Yastremska (6-1, 6-2) and Chinese Xinyu Wang (6-2, 6-7 (1), 6-2).

Indian Wells WTA 1000, other round 16 matches (Indian Wells Tennis Garden, hard, USD 8,800,000, most recent results first):

• Coco Gauff beat Rebecca Peterson: 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
• Maria Sakkari (7) beat Karolina Pliskova (17): 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
• Iga Swiatek vs. Emma Raducanu
• Sorana Cirstea vs. Caroline Garcia
• Elena Rybakina vs. Varvara Gracheva
• Petra Kvitova vs. Jessica Pegula
• Marketa Vondrousova vs. Karolina Muchova

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