MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s Paula Badosa kept her Indian Wells WTA title defense on track Tuesday, holding off determined Canadian Leylah Fernandez to reach the quarter-finals in the California desert.
Badosa, seeded fifth, saved five of the six break points she faced and kept last year’s U.S. Open runner-up under pressure -- converting three of her 12 break chances.
Badosa is vying to become the first woman to win back-to-back Indian Wells titles since Martina Navratilova in 1990-91.
She gained the upper hand in the second set with a break for 3-2, then saved a pair of break points in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead.
“In the important moments, like 4-3, down the break points, I think I stayed very composed,” added Badosa, who next faces Veronica Kudermetova, a 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (5/7), 7-5 winner over Marketa Vondrousova.
World number four Iga Swiatek, the highest-ranked player remaining in the women’s field, rallied from a set down for a third straight match to book her quarter-final berth, beating crafty German veteran Angelique Kerber 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Swiatek, the 2020 French Open champion, is coming off a title in Doha last month, but the 20-year-old admitted it took her a while to figure out how to tackle Kerber - another former Grand Slam champion.
She said Kerber showed her a different game than she’d expected after practising with the German.