Iga Swiatek ends Emma Raducanu's run to reach Indian Wells quarters, Petra Kvitova beats Jessica Pegula
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Updated 15/03/2023 at 07:19 GMT
Iga Swiatek ended Emma Raducanu's run at Indian Wells as she reached the quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-1 victory. The world No. 1 and defending champion broke serve four times to improve to 2-0 against Raducanu, who will now prepare for the Miami Open. Swiatek next faces Sorana Cirstea after she beat fifth seed Caroline Garcia while Petra Kvitova saved four match points to beat Jessica Pegula.
'A balance' - Henman highlights positive lessons Raducanu can learn from Australian Open loss
Iga Swiatek proved too good for Emma Raducanu as the world No. 1 won their Indian Wells last-16 match in straight sets.
The defending champion hit 22 winners and converted four of 10 break points to win 6-3 6-1 and reach the quarter-finals.
Swiatek will next face Sorana Cirstea after she beat fifth seed Caroline Garcia 6-4 4-6 7-5.
Raducanu has had her best week since her shock US Open win in 2021, impressing in wins over 20th seed Magda Linette and 13th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.
She acquitted herself well for most of her second career meeting against Swiatek, but, like so many other players over the last year, found the quality of the world No. 1 too much to handle.
Raducanu kept pace with Swiatek from the baseline at the start and passed up two early chances to break.
A double fault from Raducanu in the fifth game at 0-30 down opened the door for Swiatek and she took her chance.
A hold to love in the next game saw Swiatek move 5-2 ahead and she soon closed out the set.
Swiatek controlled the second set as her consistent and patient approach wore down Raducanu.
The world No. 1 broke after a lengthy third game and then twice more to seal the win in one hour and 24 minutes.
Raducanu will look to build on her showing over the last week when she heads to the Miami Open next week. She is set to move up to No. 72 in the world rankings.
Swiatek’s next opponent pushed her to three sets in the last 16 of the 2022 Australian Open.
"I still remember that match," said Cirstea. "It was an amazing match, and usually I don't say that when I lose a match. Since then she just took off. She's been playing amazing.
"She's such a complete player, she moves great, she doesn't have any flaws in her game. She's, from my point of view, the best mover we have. It's really hard to find a weakness in her game. I like Iga, I think she's the sweetest girl. She's such a wonderful role model."
Petra Kvitova saved four match points to beat world No. 3 Jessica Pegula and reach the Indian Wells quarter-finals for the first time in seven years.
The two-time Grand Slam champion pulled off a battling 6-2 3-6 7-6(11) victory.
"Just kept going," Kvitova said afterwards.
"I just tried to still be aggressive, but it was not always there for me. The emotions were of course very happy. And [I am] a little bit exhausted now."
Kvitova has a 4-1 record against Pegula and has beaten her both times they have played this season.
Next up for Kvitova is last year’s runner-up Maria Sakkari, who beat Karolina Pliskova in three sets.
Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina eased into the quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-0 win over Varvara Gracheva.
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