Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus continued her solid play, knocking off a Grand Slam champion for a second straight match with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over No. 11 seed Simona Halep of Romania to reach the round of 16 on Sunday in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif.
Americans Shelby Rogers and Jessica Pegula moved onto the round of 16.
The No. 100-ranked Sasnovich eliminated reigning U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu in the second round, then took 98 minutes to dispatch of Halep.
With the victory, Sasnovich will face No. 27 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, a 7-5, 6-4 winner over No. 7 seed, Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic.
By breezing to a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania, Rogers — the No. 44 seed — became the first American to reach the round of 16.
Rogers will face Canadian Leylah Fernandez, who rallied to defeat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkoa of Russia 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Also on Sunday, No. 4 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine defeated No. 32 seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) in a match that lasted more than two hours.
With the victory, Svitolina improved to 3-0 against Cirstea.
“It was a very tough match today, and I was fighting and trying to find my game,” Svitolina told reporters afterwards. “It was a bit of a rollercoaster.
“I wish I could play a little bit better in the first set. I had chances to grab that set, but unfortunately it didn’t play the way I wanted. I had to fight for every point, and Sorana played a great match, I think. I’m happy that I could win today.”
Svitolina will play Pegula in the round of 16 after the American was a 6-4, 6-1 winner over Jasmine Paolini of Italy.
No. 24 seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia outlasted Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva in three sets, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. Ostapenko will face No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek, who made quick work of Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova, 6-1, 6-0.
— Field Level Media
