Indian Wells Tournament | Auger-Aliassime wins, Fernandez and Andreescu lose

(Indian Wells) Quebecer Leylah Fernandez lost 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1 to Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia in Indian Wells on Monday.

Fifth seed, Garcia has therefore earned her place in the round of 16, where Sorana Cirstea will be waiting for her.

Shortly after his 11th ace, Garcia made it happen with a parallel forehand that hit the line.

Ranked 49th in the WTA, Fernandez was the 30th seed at the California tournament.

Garcia had three breaks, including two in the final inning, for cushions of 3-1 and 5-1. The Lavalloise let slip the two break points she obtained.

Prior to the break giving him a 3-1 lead, Garcia had won the third game to nil, on serve. She also shut out Fernandez twice in the first set, including a break.

Fernandez and Garcia had met only once, resulting in Garcia’s victory earlier this year in Melbourne in the second round.

Last month and earlier in March, Garcia was beaten in the final in Lyon and Monterrey by Alycia Parks and Donna Vekic.

The world N.1 and defending champion, Iga Swiatek, qualified for the round of 16 of the WTA 1000 in Indian Wells, beating 6-3, 7-6 (7/1) the Canadian Bianca Andreescu (36th ), Monday in California.

The 21-year-old Pole, in search of a double in the California desert that only Martina Navratilova managed in 1991-1992, did not really have an easy game against the winner of the event in 2019, whom she had beaten for the first time, in the quarter-finals in Rome last year.

After winning the first set, where she imposed her sharp game in an authoritarian way, she broke from the start of the second and the prospect of a victory in steamroller mode took shape.

But suddenly, the mechanics suddenly jammed. Facing resistance in Andreescu’s trade, Swiatek began to rack up the unforced errors. And his anger to rise, while his opponent chained four games in a row to lead 4-2.

Fulminating with her camp in the stands, the Polish, winner of Roland-Garros and the United States Open last year, finally pulled herself together by taking over the commitment of her rival twice in a row to serve for the match.

But a final roller coaster awaited him as Andreescu unbroken again, dropping his punches. The decision was finally made in the decisive game, Swiatek regaining control of operations at the best time to avoid the pitfall of a third set.

“I’m glad I had the opportunity to play a little more under pressure and see how I was going to come out of it. And I’m happy that I was solid most of the time and that I was able to keep my composure in the decisive game, ”she reacted hotly.

10th seeded Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina defeated her doubles partner Paula Badosa of Spain in straight sets 6-3, 7-5.

Emma Raducanu, champion in New York two years ago, beat Beatriz Haddad Maia (no 13) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4. Meanwhile, Tunisian Ons Jabeur (#4) was eliminated by Czech Marketa Vondrousova in straight sets 7-6(5), 6-4.

On the men’s side, Quebec’s Félix Auger-Aliassime, seeded eighth, defeated Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-4.

He will face 17th seeded American Tommy Paul in the next round. The latter was the winner of the Pole Hubert Hurkacz 4-6, 6-2 and 6-4.

Defending tournament champion Taylor Fritz made short work of Sebastian Baez as he triumphed 6-1, 6-2 in the third round. Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka defeated No. 7 Holger Rune in straight sets 2-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5.

Rune saved a match point and erased a 5-2 deficit to win the second set in a tiebreaker. Wawrinka pulled himself together in the final round, however.

Favorite Carlos Alcaraz will also be in action on Monday, as will veteran Andy Murray.