<figure id="attachment_3300038" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3300038" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-3300038" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/e622c586-afp__20260306__2265169031__v2__midres__bnpparibasopen2026day3_cropped_1-1.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3300038" class="wp-caption-text">Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus reacts after her victory at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. (AFP pic)</figcaption></figure>
INDIAN WELLS: World number one Aryna Sabalenka powered past Romania&#8217;s Jaqueline Cristian 6-4, 6-1 yesterday to reach the fourth round at Indian Wells.
The Belarusian star belted 23 winners in an impressive display against her 35th-ranked opponent and will next face either 16th-seeded Naomi Osaka of Japan or Camila Osorio.
There were a few blips, notably a double fault on break point as she served for the opening set. Sabalenka responded by breaking Cristian to pocket the set and was satisfied with an overpowering performance.
&#8220;I knew that she was not going to give up easily,&#8221; she said. &#8220;That&#8217;s why I was super-focused, especially on my serve.
“I didn&#8217;t want to give her much opportunity, so super-happy with the serving, with the game and of course with the win,&#8221; she added.
In other matches, Osaka faced off against Osorio after falling to the Colombian in the first-round last year.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka is playing her first tournament since withdrawing before her Australian Open third-round match with an abdominal injury.
Osaka &#8211; who won her first WTA title at Indian Wells in 2018 &#8211; booked her third-round berth with a relatively smooth 7-5, 6-2 victory over qualifier Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, while Osorio saved three match points in her second-round victory over Iva Jovic.
Sixth-seeded American Amanda Anisimova faces another former Grand Slam champion in Britain&#8217;s Emma Raducanu, who last month reached her first WTA final since her shock run to the 2021 US Open title.
Fourth-seeded Coco Gauff headlines the night session, taking on rising Philippines star Alexandra Eala &#8211; who gets a quick chance for revenge after falling 6-0, 6-2 to the American in the Dubai quarter-finals last month.
&#8220;I&#8217;m excited,&#8221; Eala said. &#8220;It was a tough match for me last time. I think she played really well. So, all I can do is take the learnings that I have from our last match and try to implement that in our next one,&#8221; Eala added.
Gauff, coming off an &#8220;awkward&#8221; 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) win over qualifier Kamilla Rakhimova, can expect plenty of crowd support. But so can Eala, who is drawing her usual contingent of loyal Filipino fans in the California desert.
&#8220;It means the world to have this community behind me in such a prestigious tournament,&#8221; Eala said after enthusiastic fans backed her through a chilly, late-night win over Dayana Yastremska.
&#8220;It really added to the feelings and the emotions after the match,&#8221; Eala said.

MatchPoint Times

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Belarus’s Aryna Sabalenka defeated Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian 6-4, 6-1.

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