Aryna Sabalenka cruised into the quarter-finals at Indian Wells with a commanding straight-sets win over Sonay Kartal on Wednesday. (More Tennis News)
The world number one took ju🌸st 72 minutes to secure her place in the 🍸final eight, winning 6-1 6-2.
Sabalenka made the worst possible start by losing her serve in the opening game, but she did not look back after that, winn൩ing the next six games in a row🌄.
She faced a break point in the final game⭕ of the first set but held🔯 onto her serve to take the lead.
Sabalenka did n𒆙ot look back, and Kartal could not put the Belarusian on 🦄the back foot, failing to produce another break attempt, with her opponent proving too strong.
She will face either Jasmine Paolini or Liudm🦄ila Sams﷽onova in the quarter-finals.
Elsewhere, Australian Open champion Madis💫oꦑn Keys fought back from the brink to secure her place in the last eight, beating Donna Vekic in three sets.
Keys, who beat Sabalenka to the title in Melbourn꧙e, triumphed 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 on Wednesday.
After losing the first se✃t, the American successfully defended against a set point when 5-4 down in the second to level the score before 🐓finally finding her edge in the tie-break.
Her fight won out, and aꩵfter going a break up in the first game of the decider, she did not look back, sealing the win after converting match point at the second time of asking.
She has now won 15 consecutive matches and became the first player🍸 to win each of her first 10 three-set matches in a WTA season since Serena Williams in 2015 – including retirements.
Data Debrief: Sabalenka back on track
Having struggled since her Australian Open final defeat, Sabalenka looks to be regaining her rhythm as she p🌃owers through Indian Wells.
She wဣent to a tie-break in her first set at the tournament, but in the two matches sin🎶ce, she has dropped just six games.
She Sabalenka showed her strength on serve, winning 74% of h💯er first-serve points (23/31). She also converted five of eight break points (63%).
Her progress means that both the world number one (Sabalenka) and two (Iga Swiatek) will feature in the last eight in Indian Wells🌌 for the fifth time in the 2000s.
