Sabalenka surges into last four at BNP Paribas Open

Aryna Sabalenka’s bid for a first BNP Paribas Open title continued with a 6-2, 6-3 defeat of Liudmila Samsonova during quarter-final action on Thursday evening. The world No 1 prevailed in one hour and 22 minutes at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Palm Springs, California.

Sabalenka dropped serve twice but made up for it by converting five of eight break points. She improved to 3-2 lifetime against Samsonova.

Not only was Sabalenka facing an opponent who has given her trouble in the past, but she also had to deal with typically windy conditions in Indian Wells — as did Samsonova. The Belarusian handled them in impressive fashion.

“It was just really tricky conditions,” Sabalenka assured. “And I’m really happy with the way I adjusted to wind. Yeah, it wasn’t easy to play in these conditions.”

The top seed will face American Keys in the semi-finals on Friday. It’s a rematch of the Australian Open title tilt, won by the American.

Previously in Indian Wells, Sabalenka beat American McCartney Kessler (7-6 (4), 6-3), Italian Lucia Bronzetti (6-1, 6-2) and lucky loser Sonay Kartal (6-1, 6-2).

Samsonova’ quarter-final run came at the expense of Catherine McNally (7-6 (8), 6-4), No 12 seed Daria Kasatkina (2-6, 6-3, 6-2) and Italian Jasmine Paolini, the No 6 seed (6-0, 6-4).

Indian Wells WTA 1000, other quarter-finals results:

• Madison Keys beat Belinda Bencic (WC): 6-1, 6-1
• Mirra Andreeva (9) beat Elina Svitolina (23): 7-5, 6-3
• Iga Swiatek (2) beat Qinwen Zheng (8): 6-3, 6-3

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