Top seeds Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek reached the Indian Wells quarterfinals at just the right time Tuesday as the in-form Daniil Medvedev defied injury in a wild three-set win over Alexander Zverev. Alcaraz, the world number two who can regain the top of the rankings with a win this week, had a short night of work on the stadium pitch when Britain’s Jack Draper withdrew with an abdominal injury with the Spaniard leading 6-2, 2-0. Meanwhile, world number one Swiatek had the last word in most long rallies by beating 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu 6-3, 6-1.
His smooth progression was a stark contrast to the drama of the morning, when Medvedev rallied from a second-set knockdown and a serious ankle sprain to beat Zverev 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7 /5), 7-5 to take his ATP winning streak to 17 matches.
The world number six, coming off ATP wins in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai, sprained his right ankle and lay on the court for several minutes before limping back to his chair.
Zverev, who suffered three ankle ligament tears at last year’s French Open, looked on with concern, but after medical staff examined and bandaged the injury, Medvedev continued, turning the game around.
“At first it was quite painful, so I was more concerned and focused on my ankle than on the game,” Medvedev said.
“So that really helped me a little bit to play better. For the rest of the game, the adrenaline was probably going up. So it wasn’t easy to walk, that’s why I was limping, but moving around was easier.”
She saved all 10 break points she faced in the second set, taking a 4-1 lead en route to the tiebreak victory.
Breaking early in the third, Medvedev wasted a match point as he was broken in the tenth game.
However, Zverev was unable to take advantage of that and Medvedev held on to clinch victory after three hours and 17 minutes.
With the ankle allowed, Medvedev was scheduled to face 28th-ranked Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who beat Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday.
Alcaraz will have a day off before facing Felix Auger-Aliassime, who saved six match points, three in the third set tiebreaker, in his 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) win over Tommy. Pablo.
Not that Alcaraz needed the break after his 46-minute outing.
“This is not the way anyone wants to win a match,” Alcaraz said.
Swiatek’s match followed a familiar pattern, with last year’s French and US Open winner tempting her opponent in a few close games before pulling off a convincing victory.
“I feel like in these longer rallies it was me who showed that I can put pressure on the defense and it’s not easy to finish the rallies.
“She was actually doing the same thing,” Swiatek said. “She was running for every ball and making those cuts which are tricky, but honestly I’m very happy with how positive and disciplined I was.”
She then faces Romanian Sorana Cirstea, who battled to a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 victory over fifth-ranked Caroline Garcia of France.
Kvitova escape
Defending men’s champion Taylor Fritz defeated Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 6-4, 6-3 in a tense match that believed in a direct score.
Fritz will face Italian Jannik Sinner, who defeated three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-4.
2021 British champion Cameron Norrie beat seventh-ranked Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-4 to line up with a clash with American Frances Tiafoe, who beat Chilean qualifier Alejandro Tabilo 6-4, 6-4.
Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka reached the quarterfinals for the first time with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win over Barbora Krejcikova.
Sabalenka now faces 19-year-old American Coco Gauff, who defeated Swedish qualifier Rebecca Peterson 6-3, 1-6, 6-4. Gauff, the fourth seed, has won three of her previous four meetings.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, a former world number two who is now ranked 15th, saved four match points in a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (13/11) win over Jessica Pegula , ranked third.
The Czech now faces last year’s runner-up Maria Sakkari, the seventh seed who defeated Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article.
carlos alcaraz Iga Swiatek Daniel Medvedev tennis
