Jannik Sinner edges into Indian Wells quarters; Sabalenka too hot for Osaka

Top men’s seed Jannik Sinner survived a stern test from Joao Fonseca on Tuesday to reach the Indian Wells quarter-finals, while world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka eased past 16th seed Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-4 to progress to the women’s last eight.
Sinner, the world No. 2, was pushed hard by the 19-year-old Brazilian, losing the first set 3-6 before rallying to take the next two in tiebreaks and close out a 7-6(6) 7-6(4) win.
“I am very happy winning this match,” Sinner said.
“Joao is an incredible talent. He was serving really well. I was trying to be as aggressive as possible and that was the key to get through against the incredible talent.”
The Italian will now meet the home favourite Learner Tien on Friday.
“I feel he is a very consistent player and I am very happy to face him again. He has improved a lot since the last time we met,” Sinner said of his American opponent. Meanwhile, in the first meeting between the two four-time Grand Slam champions since 2018 – when Osaka beat Sabalenka at the U.S. Open en route to her maiden major title – the Belarusian’s power proved too much for the former world No. 1 on Tuesday.
“Yeah that’s crazy, for so many years we only played once. I’m pretty sure we are playing many more matches, she’s coming back playing great tennis,” Sabalenka said in her on-court interview. “I’m pretty happy for the result today, much better than last time.”
Osaka began confidently with a strong opening service game, but top seed Sabalenka soon found her rhythm and capitalised on a brief dip from the Japanese, breaking for 2-1 after two double faults.
The Belarusian tightened her grip with a barrage of powerful backhands to lead 5-2, then served out the set comfortably with an ace.
After a series of solid holds from both players early in the second, Sabalenka again used her firepower to take control, breaking again for a 4-2 lead that proved decisive as she closed out victory to continue her run in the tournament without dropping a set.
“I’m happy that I put so much pressure on her today, that I brought variety to the court,” Sabalenka said. “My serve worked well. On the return I played really great tennis. Happy with my performance for sure.”
Last year’s runner-up Sabalenka will continue her quest for a first title in the California desert against Canada’s Victoria Mboko, who sailed past higher-ranked American Amanda Anisimova with a 6-4, 6-1 win.
It will be a rematch of an Australian Open round-of-16 match between the two, which Sabalenka won in straight sets.