Women’s quarterfinals at Indian Wells are set with marquee matchups
The last women’s quarterfinal matchup at the BNP Paribas Open wasn’t determined until after 11 p.m. Pacific time on Tuesday, when No. 10 Angelique Kerber completed a 6-1, 6-1 rout of No. 7 Caroline Garcia at Stadium 1 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Only two of the top five women’s seeds made it this far and only four of the top 10.
This is how the quarterfinals shape up:
No. 1 Simona Halep vs. Petra Martic (unseeded).
No. 5 Karolina Pliskova vs. Naomi Osaka (unseeded).
No. 8 Venus Williams vs. No. 27 Carla Suarez-Navarro.
No. 10 Angelique Kerber vs. No. 20 Daria Kasatkina.
Kasatkina defeated reigning Australian Open champion and No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki Tuesday night 6-4, 7-5, the 20-year-old Russian’s second victory over Wozniacki this season. Kasatkina has beaten all four current Grand Slam champions in the last year, a feat that everyone but Kasatkina seems to find remarkable.
“Didn’t really think about it,†she said. “I’m just going on court and actually now enjoying every minute during I’m playing.
“Yeah, kind of I’m playing [my] best matches against the best players. But as I say, if you want to be on the top, you have to beat the top players. So, quite simple rule.â€
Kasatkina, who defeated No. 13 seed and U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens in the third round here, is rapidly becoming one of the top players. She wasn’t initially sure she would be able to do that.
“In the beginning it was really tough because I was really nervous going on the big stages, on the big courts against big players,†said Kasatkina, who has a 2-2 career record against Kerber. “But now with experience, with the time, I’m getting into it and I would say I’m getting pretty confidence in this level already. So we will see what’s going to happen next.â€
Go beyond the scoreboard
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