Indian Wells WTA: Sabalenka ends Kartal’s run, eases into quarter-finals

Aryna Sabalenka, the top seed, advanced to the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells WTA 1000 by beating lucky loser Sonay Kartal 6-1, 6-2 in California on Wednesday.

The Belarusian has now lost just six games in her past two matches and is looking in breath-taking form to win her second title of the season.

Sabalenka, ranked No 1, will face the winner of the match between Russian Liudmila Samsonova, the No 24 seed, and Italian Jasmine Paolini, the No 6 seed, next.

Ahead of her victory, the Belarusian won against American McCartney Kessler (7-6 (4), 6-3) and Italian Lucia Bronzetti (6-1, 6-2).

Kartal, ranked No 83, won against American qualifier Varvara Lepchenko (7-6 (6), 6-2), Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia, the No 16 seed (6-2, 6-1) and Russian Polina Kudermetova (7-5, 6-3) in the previous rounds of the Indian Wells tournament.

Indian Wells WTA 1000, other last 16 results (Indian Wells Tennis Garden, hard, USD 8.963.700, most recent results first):

• Liudmila Samsonova vs. Jasmine Paolini
• Madison Keys (5) beat Donna Vekic (19): 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-3
• Belinda Bencic (WC) beat Coco Gauff (3): 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Qinwen Zheng (8) beat Marta Kostyuk (18): 6-3, 6-2
• Mirra Andreeva (9) beat Elena Rybakina (7): 6-1, 6-2
• Elina Svitolina (23) beat Jessica Pegula (4): 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
• Iga Swiatek (2) beat Karolina Muchova (15): 6-1, 6-1