Belarusian star Victoria Azarenka registered a nerve wrecking 7-5, 6-4 victory over her Czech rival Petra Kvitova to advance into the Round of 16 at the Indian Wells on Monday.
In their ninth career meeting that lasted for an hour and 49 minutes, the two champion players displayed great resilience and calm to put up a thrilling contest of tennis. Azarenka struck 25 winners, 9 aces, 18 unforced errors, and recorded a 6-for-11 on breakpoints.
Kvitova, with a troubled right thigh, that required treatment in the match hit 29 winners to 26 unforced, but only registered a 4-for-12 on breakpoints in her final contest of the season.
The two-time Australian Open Champion will next square off against her compatriot Aliaksandra Sasnovich to book a berth in the last eight.
Besides, in a late-night contest, the US Open runner up Leylah Fernandez scripted a comeback from a set and a break down to get better of No.9 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 to storm to the Round of 16 in her maiden stint at the tournament.
The victory also took Fernandez's winning streak against top 20 opponents to five, which also features triumphs over Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber, Elina Svitolina, Aryna Sabalenka and now the French Open finalist Pavlyuchenkova.
The highly competitive contest between the two saw Fernandez come from 7-5, 2-0 down to stage an encounter with American Shelby Rogers for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Earlier in the day, Aliaksandra Sasnovich notched up a 7-5, 6-4 win over Simona Halep on Stadium 2.
