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Patna : World No 1 in WTA rankings and reigning US Open and Australian Open (AO) Champion Naomi Osaka, 21, Japan, World No 5 Karolina Pliskova, 26, Czech Republic, World No 9 Aryna Sabalenka, 20, Belarus, and winner of 7 Grand Slam singles title Venus Williams, 38, USA, entered the Round of 16 of Indian Wells Masters, a WTA World Tour Premier event, at California, USA, on March 12, 2019.
Osaka beat World No 25 Danielle Rose Collins, 25, USA, 6-4, 6-2 in the 3rd round. Osaka broke Collins’ service 4 times in the match while the latter broke her service once. Collins committed 7 double faults to 1 by Osaka. Osaka also won 5 games in a row in the match to 2 by Collins. Osaka also fired 4 Aces to just 1 by Collins. Osaka will face World No 23 Belinda Bencic, 21, Switzerland, in the 4th round.
Pliskova defeated World No 144 Ysaline Bonaventure, 24, Belgium, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the Round of 16. Pliskova fired 13 Aces in the match to just 1 by Bonaventure. She broke Bonaventure’s service 5 times while the latter broke her service twice. Pliskova also won 4 games in a row in the match. Bonaventure committed a staggering 12 double faults in the match. She will face World No 21 Anett Kontaveit, 23, Estonia, in the Round of 16.
Sabalenka beat World No 28 Lesia Tsurenko, 29, Ukraine, 6-2, 7-5 in the 3rd round. Sabalenka broke Tsurenko’s service 6 times in the match while the latter broke her service thrice. Sabalenka will face World No 8 and winner of three Grand Slam singles title Angelique Kerber, 31, Germany, in the 4th round.
World No 36 Venus Williams beat World No 140 Christina McHale, 26, USA, 6-2, 7-5 to advance to the 4th round. Venus broke McHale’s service 7 times in the match while the latter broke her service 4 times. Venus won 5 games in a row to 2 by McHale. McHale committed 6 double faults to3 by Venus. She will face World No 97 Mona Barthel, 28, Germany, in the 4th round.