Sabalenka, Keys book quarter final spot at Indian Wells

Aryna Sabalenka ended the run of lucky loser Sonay Kartal on Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open, rolling into the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-2 victory.

Broken by the World No. 83 in the first game of the match, Sabalenka never trailed again. She won eight straight games to take a lead she’d never relinquish, and in all, only lost six points on serve in set two.

“After the first game, I felt like things wasn’t going my way, Sabalenka confessed post-match. “I’m really happy that I could recharge and start everything over again and close this match in straight sets.”

Sabalenka only previously reached the quarterfinals in Indian Wells in 2023, when she went all the way to the final. Against Kartal, who had defeated No. 16 Beatriz Haddd Maia earlier in the tournament, Sabalenka lost serve just once in 1 hour and 12 minutes. She broke serve five times to set a quarterfinal match against No. 24 seed Liudmila Samsonova, who toppled No. 6 seed Jasmine Paolini on Wednesday night, 6-0, 6-4.

Reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys also had to battle back from the brink to keep her winning streak alive and book a spot in the BNP Paribas Open quarterfinals.

No. 5 seed Keys has won 15 consecutive matches after pulling off a 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-3 comeback over No. 19 seed Donna Vekic in a 2-hour and 18-minute thriller on Wednesday. Keys had to grind out a tense second-set tie break to turn the tide and grab a 3-1 head-to-head lead over last year’s Olympic silver medalist Vekic.

Keys will face resurgent mom Belinda Bencic in the quarterfinals, after Bencic beat No. 3 seed Coco Gauff earlier on Wednesday. Last month’s Abu Dhabi champion Bencic and Keys have split their four previous meetings, and they have not faced off since 2022.