Aryna Sabalenka, Madison Keys, and Iga Swiatek are all through to the Indian Wells Masters quarter-finals, as they averted upsets in the earlier rounds. Sabalenka and Swiatek’s paths to the last 8 were relatively stress-free, while the same can’t be said for Keys, who had to survive consecutive three-setters to advance.
There’s a huge possibility of a rematch of this year’s Australian Open final, as Sabalenka and Keys could meet in the semi-finals. On the other hand, Swiatek is favoured by the Indian Wells Masters 2025 odds to make it again to the final because she has an easier path.
Elsewhere, fellow Top 10 players Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula aren’t so lucky. Despite taking the opening set, Gauff was stunned by Belinda Bencic, while the same thing happened to Pegula against world No. 23 Elina Svitolina.
In case you missed it, you can learn more about the latest Indian Wells Masters 2025 updates, courtesy of SBOTOP.
Easy peasy for Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka ended the run of lucky loser Sonay Kartal with a 6-1, 6-2 Round of 16 victory last Wednesday. The Belarusian international lost serve only once and broke serve five times in the match that only lasted one hour and 12 minutes.
Kartal had momentum coming into the match, as the world No. 83 defeated the 16th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia earlier in the tournament. The British international broke Sabalenka in the first game of the match, but Sabalenka reminded the world why she is the top seed in the WTA rankings. Sabalenka won eight straight games to take the lead and never looked back, and she only lost six points on serve in the second set.
Sabalenka has won 16 straight matches against qualifiers and lucky losers. The last time she lost against such an opponent was in San Diego three years ago, against former qualifier Donna Vekic.
Before flying to California, Sabalenka lost to Madison Keys in the Australian Open final and struggled in the Middle East. The 26-year-old lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova in the Qatar Open Round of 32 and against Clara Tauson in the Round of 16 in Dubai.
She will face Liudmila Samsonova in the next round. Sabalenka has a 2-2 head-to-head record against the world No. 24, as they’ve played two three-setters and another match that featured two tiebreaks. Sabalenka has won titles in the previous two tournaments she defeated Samsonova (Adelaide 2023 and Cincinnati 2024).
Keys lives to fight another day
Madison Keys extended her unbeaten run to 15 consecutive matches after securing a 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-3 comeback over Donna Vekic last Wednesday. She lasted for two hours and 18 minutes.
The American international had to grind out a nervy second-set tiebreak to turn the tide and build momentum in the third set, where she won several break points against her Croatian counterpart to clinch the victory. Overall, Keys had 46 winners and only 28 unforced errors.
Keys is coming off her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, and Wednesday’s win ties her career-best performance in Indian Wells when she reached the quarter-finals in 2022. With the victory, Keys has kept alive the prospect of an American woman winning the Indian Wells Masters for the first time since Serena Williams in 2001.
The 30-year-old became the fifth woman over 30 in the Open Era to notch a 15-match winning streak at tour level, joining Serena Williams, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, and Chris Evert. Keys will square off against Belinda Bencic in the next round.
Swiatek breaks Serena’s WTA record
Indian Wells Masters defending champion Iga Swiatek is through to the quarter-finals following a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Karolina Muchova. The match was never close, as Swiatek only needed 57 minutes to advance to the next round. The rain delay might have been longer than the actual match.
Swiatek never faced a break point against Muchova. Her superb return game was on full display on Tuesday, as she went 16-for-21 (76.1-per cent). With the win, her record at Indian Wells swelled to 21-2 – good for a .913 winning percentage and second only to Navratilova’s 100-per cent (10-0 record). She has also reached this stage at a WTA-1000 event for the 21st time (21-for-34, 61.8-per cent), surpassing Serena Williams previous record of 61.2- per cent.
The Polish international is also the first woman to reach the Indian Wells quarter-finals for four straight years since Karolina Pliskova from 2016 to 2019. Her next opponent is world No. 8 Zheng Qinwen, who defeated Marta Kostyuk in straight sets.
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