Indian Wells: Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark defeated Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals, her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal since 2019
With her win, Wozniacki becomes the seventh woman to reach the BNP Paribas Open quarterfinals beyond the age of 33, and the last mom standing of the seven that started the main draw at Indian Wells.
Kerber, 36, came to California 1-6 for 2024 after a 17-month sabbatical to give birth to a daughter, Liana.
Wozniacki, sharper at the start, stormed out to a 5-1 double break lead in the opener, before Kerber punched back, taking the next three games to get back on serve. After a medical timeout for what appeared to be a foot or ankle injury, Wozniacki broke to claim the set, 6-4.
Though both players required medical timeouts in the 90-minute contest, it was Kerber who ran out of gas first, as a lower back issue threw her game out of whack at the start of the second set.
Still both players shared spirited rallies and landed colossal winners at times. In the end the court became tilted in Wozniack’s favour, as the 2011 champion pulled away from an ailing Kerber.
Wozniacki will meet world No.1 Iga Swiatek of Poland, who eased into her third consecutive quarterfinal at the Paribas Open after defeating No.79 Yulia Putintseva 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday night.
The Pole ran off eight consecutive games from 1-1 to take firm control of the 71-minute match and improve to 3-0 against Putintseva. Swiatek struck 17 winners while holding Putintseva to just 4.
Swiatek, a champion in Doha last month, is bidding to win her second title of the season this week. She has not lost before the semifinal stage at a WTA 1000 tournament since 2023 Rome.
Earlier in the day, World No. 32 Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, who reached her first major quarterfinal at the Australian Open in January, defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-1 to reach her first Paribas Open quarterfinal and first at the 1000 level.
Kostyuk is the first player from Ukraine to reach the quarterfinals at Indian Wells since Elina Svitolina in 2021. No Ukrainian has ever reached a BNP Paribas Open final.
Kostyuk will face No.28-seeded Anastasia Potapova next. The former junior No.1 defeated Jasmine Paolini 7-5, 0-6, 6-3 earlier in the first match on Stadium 1, to reach the last eight at Indian Wells for the first time.
–IANS