Jessica Pegula, Maria Sakkari win in three sets at Indian Wells, Coco Gauff gets birthday victory over Linda Noskova
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Published 13/03/2023 at 07:29 GMT
There were three-set wins for Jessica Pegula and Maria Sakkari at Indian Wells while Coco Gauff celebrated turning 19 by beating Linda Noskova 6-4 6-3 to advance. Petra Kvitova beat Jelena Ostapenko 0-6 6-0 6-4 and Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka got a walkover after Lesia Tsurenko withdrew from their match. Sabalenka next faces Barbora Krejcíkova, who won their last meeting in Dubai.
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Jessica Pegula and Maria Sakkari both came from a set down for the second time in as many matches at Indian Wells to reach the fourth round.
Third seed Pegula followed up her opening win over Camila Giorgi with a 3-6 6-4 7-5 victory over 26th seed Anastasia Potapova.
Last year’s runner-up, Sakkari, came from a set and a break down to beat 27th seed Anhelina Kalinina.
"I think I started playing a little bit smarter, getting a lot of depth on my shots, everything got a little bit better," said Pegula, who was 3-1 down in the deciding set.
"She came out playing really well and I was pretty frustrated. She's a great player.
“I knew that she's been playing great. [At the net] I just told her, 'Congrats,' and I think it was just a respectable battle today."
Pegula will next meet 15th seed Petra Kvitova, who beat Jelena Ostapenko 0-6 6-0 6-4.
Sakkari is bidding to become the first woman to make back-to-back Indian Wells finals since Maria Sharapova in 2013.
She dropped an early break in the third set against Kalinina but fought back and sealed victory with her third match point.
"I'm making too many unforced errors from the baseline,” Sakkari said afterwards.
“But all that matters is that I'm finding a way to win and just fighting. As I said, that's the only thing, finding a way to win. Winning ugly, but at the end, winning."
Sakkari faces 17th seed Karolina Pliskova next.
Coco Gauff gave herself an early birthday present as she beat 18-year-old Linda Noskova 6-4 6-3.
Gauff, who turned 19 just hours after the win, won 30 of her 34 first-serve points as she set up a meeting with qualifier Rebecca Peterson in the last 16.
"I felt a little pressure coming in to today's match, to be honest with you because of the age thing, which I've never thought about that in the past," said Gauff.
"I think because my age has been such a topic in conversation for so long, playing someone younger than me, you do feel like a little pressure. But now that I'm getting older, like, I've got to get used to it."
World No. 6 Gauff and world No. 54 Noskova are two of four teenagers in the top 100, along with world No. 53 Linda Fruhvirtova (17) and world No. 94 Diana Shnaider (18).
World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the fourth round after Lesia Tsurenko withdrew from their match.
Sabalenka will next face Barbora Krejcíkova, who beat Wang Xinyu 6-2 6-7(1) 6-2.
Krejcíkova ended Sabalenka's perfect start to the season when the last met in Dubai.
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