INDIAN WELLS (USA), March 11: Iga Swiatek avenged her Australian Open ouster at the hands of Linda Noskova, defeating the Czech teenager 6-4 6-0 in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz and third-seeded Jannik Sinner each advanced in straight sets in the men’s draw on Sunday, but fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev lost to No. 32 seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4 6-4.
Swiatek advances to the round of 16, where the top-ranked Polish star will face Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan. Putintseva defeated Madison Keys 6-4 6-1, part of a tough start to the day for American singles players.Francis Tiafoe also lost in straight sets, 6-3 6-3 to Stefanos Tsitsipas. The 11th-seeded Tsitsipas will face Lehecka in the men’s round of 16.
Noskova beat Swiatek in three sets in Australia, becoming the first teen to beat a No. 1-ranked woman at that event in 25 years. The rematch was competitive for a set, but Swiatek eventually rolled to victory in just under 73 minutes.
“I made some mistakes at the beginning. I tried to maybe play to finish the rallies too early,”Swiatek said.“But I knew that if I’m going to try to stay consistent and make a little bit less mistakes, my chances may come.” Jasmine Paolini won another tight match against Anna Kalinskaya, 6-3 3-6 6-4. Paolini won the Dubai Championships two weeks ago, rallying to win a three-set final over Kalinskaya.
Alcaraz beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-2 6-3, and Sinner ousted Jan Lennard-Struff 6-3 6-4.Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula defeated Sofia Kenin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands 7-5, 6-3 in an all-American doubles matchup. The top-seeded men’s doubles team is out after the first round – Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen eliminated Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden 7-6 4-6 10-8. (PTI)
