{"id":70417,"date":"2024-03-12T14:51:01","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T14:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/sabalenka-gauff-advance-at-indian-wells-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2024-03-12T14:51:01","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T14:51:01","slug":"sabalenka-gauff-advance-at-indian-wells-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/sabalenka-gauff-advance-at-indian-wells-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Sabalenka, Gauff advance at Indian Wells | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\nINDIAN WELLS:
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reigning Grand Slam champions Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff<\/a> reached the fourth round of the ATP-WTA Indian Wells Masters on Monday with challenging straight-set wins.<\/p>\n

But former number one and 2018 tournament winner Naomi Osaka failed to join them, with the Japanese player eliminated 7-5, 6-4 by Elise Mertens, who now takes on Gauff.<\/p>\n

The Belgian saved three break points in the final game, advancing on her second match point which drew an Osaka error.<\/p>\n

Osaka, a four-time winner at the majors, is making her return to tennis this season after giving birth.<\/p>\n

Earlier, double Australian Open trophy-holder Sabalenka<\/a> defeated Emma Raducanu 6-3, 7-5 but double-faulted on a match point and needed three more winning chances before finally going through.<\/p>\n

The 2023 runner-up to Elena Rybakina here got a tougher than expected challenge from 2021 US Open champion Raducanu, who has returned to tournament tennis this year after an eight-month injury layoff.<\/p>\n

Gauff, who won the US Open last September as a teenager, overcame Lucia Bronzetti 6-2, 7-6 (7\/5) as she closed out victory in a tiebreaker with a minimum of drama.<\/p>\n

Sabalenka is playing only her second event since claiming her second trophy at Melbourne Park; she has now won 13 of 15 matches this season.<\/p>\n

Raducanu, ranked 250th and playing on a wild card entry, was able to convert on only one of her 10 break chances against the second seed.<\/p>\n

Victory in 97 minutes ran Sabalenka’s WTA-leading total of Masters 1000 match wins to 82.<\/p>\n

“I was super-happy to close this match in two sets; the last game was tight,” Sabalenka said.<\/p>\n

“It was a key moment. If I had lost that game it would give her emotionally much more belief and confidence – going to the tiebreak you never know, It’s 50\/50.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t want that to happen. That’s why I felt relief after I closed this match in two sets.”<\/p>\n

Gauff needed to fight to go past the 53rd-ranked Bronzetti, with the American finally closing out a straight-sets win with a tiebreaker.<\/p>\n

The US Open champion who turns 20 on Wednesday won her sixth straight match against an Italian opponent.<\/p>\n

“She played really well,” the winner said of Bronzetti. “But I was much better than in my last match – I’m improving with each one.”<\/p>\n

In the men’s draw, seventh seed Holger Rune finally made it onto court after a first-round bye and a walkover in the second round against injured Milos Raonic.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old Dane got off and running in the event with a 6-2, 7-6 (7\/5) defeat of Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, earning revenge for a loss on grass last June at Queen’s Club, London.<\/p>\n

“It feels great to finally get started,” he said after reaching the fourth round here for the first time.<\/p>\n

“The wait is finally over, I was so eager to play, though I did get two extra practice days.” This month’s Acapulco semi-finalist said that he could have played better against Musetti.<\/p>\n

“I’m working to convert as many break points as possible. At the start of the second set I could have done more – but you learn from it all,” he said. “I’m just happy to get the win in good form.”<\/p>\n

Norway’s ninth seed Casper Ruud advanced past Arthur Fils of France 6-2, 6-4.<\/p>\n

French showstopper Gael Monfils ended the run of 2021 champion Cameron Norrie, with the 36-year-old winner and the Briton playing a massive 31 break points in a match won by Monfils 6-7 (5\/7), 7-6 (7\/5), 6-3.<\/p>\n

Tommy Paul earned a home win with his 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Dubai champion Ugo Humbert. Taylor Fritz joined him, 6-2, 6-2 over Argentine Sebastian Baez. str\/rcw<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

INDIAN WELLS: Reigning Grand Slam champions Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff reached the fourth round of the ATP-WTA Indian Wells Masters on Monday with challenging straight-set wins. But former number one and 2018 tournament winner Naomi Osaka failed to join them, with the Japanese player eliminated 7-5, 6-4 by Elise Mertens, who now takes on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/media\/images\/Part-GTY-2076546977-1-1-01710249347-0\/Part-GTY-2076546977-1-1-01710249347-0.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t