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Ostapenko upsets Swiatek, Pegula rolls past Svitolina to reach Indian Wells quarterfinals

Lower than 24 hours after prime seed Karolina Pliskova was defeated by Brazilian fortunate loser Beatriz Haddad Maia, Jelena Ostapenko knocked No.2 seed Iga Swiatek out of the BNP Paribas Open.

In a fourth-round assembly between two earlier French Open champions, No.24 seed Ostapenko got here from a break down in every set to safe a 6-4, 6-3 victory to advance to the quarterfinals.

“I knew it was going to be a really robust match as a result of she’s such an awesome participant, she gained a Grand Slam and he or she’s enjoying nice tennis,” Ostapenko mentioned.

“I actually got here with a powerful mentality to this match. I knew I needed to struggle for each level, be aggressive and I believe I did that fairly properly right this moment.”

The ultra-aggressive Ostapenko excelled in comparatively calmer circumstances than blustery ones that outlined Monday’s play: she hit 25 winners to 21 unforced errors in 93 minutes, broke Swiatek 4 instances and served only one double fault.

Simple towards Swiatek once more: Ostapenko improved her head-to-head file towards Swiatek to 2-0 with the victory, including to a previous 6-0, 6-2 win on grass in Birmingham in 2019.

With Swiatek now a major-winner at a career-high rating, followers in attendance on Stadium 3 would’ve arrived anticipating a extra aggressive consequence this time round. They obtained that on this match, though the victor was the identical.

The Latvian trailed 4-3 within the first set and 3-1 within the second set, however ended every on a string of consecutive video games to guide a spot in her fourth quarterfinal of the 12 months.

“I simply knew that I’ve return and was enjoying properly in deciding moments,” Ostapenko mentioned of her skill to show round every set. “I simply tried to serve higher as a result of it was slightly bit windy and cooler right this moment, so totally different circumstances to my final match [on Sunday], and I wanted a while to regulate.”

Two US Open stars in Ostapenko’s path subsequent: The Latvian, who was compelled to withdraw from the US Open, strikes on to face both No.23 seed Leylah Fernandez or American Shelby Rogers, every of whom performed deep into the second week of the 12 months’s remaining Grand Slam.

Pegula powers to a different win towards Svitolina

In solely her third main-draw look on the BNP Paribas Open, Jessica Pegula is into the quarterfinals. The No.19 seeded American cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win over No.4 seed Elina Svitolina in Tuesday’s fourth spherical, changing into the primary participant by way of to the final eight on a day the place all eight fourth spherical matches had been on the schedule.

Pegula wanted simply 68 minutes to guide a spot in her seventh quarterfinal of the season and fourth at WTA 1000 degree. In victory, the American by no means confronted break level, touchdown 70% of her first serves, and hit 19 winners to only 14 unforced errors.

Much less constant off the bottom than her traditional commonplace, Svitolina racked up 27 unforced errors to 18 winners, and likewise acquired a medical timeout for an obvious higher proper leg problem in between units. The Ukrainian was damaged 5 instances and confronted 14 break factors in all. 

Phrases from the winner: “I believe I performed actually stable with not numerous errors, was getting numerous actually good depth on my balls, was coming in once I wanted to, serving properly once I wanted to. It was an awesome day,” Pegula mentioned on-court after the match.

“I believe I’ve simply been making numerous actually good selections in the correct moments. That clearly comes with enjoying numerous matches, profitable and getting confidence… it is simply been extra perception that I can play at this degree. I believe this 12 months, I noticed that, and I have been having good outcomes.”

Coming full circle: Eight months in the past at February’s Australian Open, Pegula scored the primary Prime 10 win of her profession over Svitolina in a three-set fourth spherical victory. Tuesday’s win over the Ukrainian was her seventh Prime 10 win of the season. 

Up subsequent: Pegula will face the winner of the all-Belarusian fourth spherical match between No.27 seed Victoria Azarenka and Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who’s bidding to upset a Grand Slam champion for the third straight spherical, for a spot within the semifinals. Earlier in Pegula’s quarterfinal run at Melbourne Park, she additionally beat Azarenka within the first spherical.

Extra to return…

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