Sawt Falasteen - Defending champ Swiatek races into Indian Wells 3rd round, Fritz fights through

Neither Liu nor the breezy conditions on Stadium Court troubled Swiatek, who is seeking to become just the second woman -- after Martina Navratilova in 1990-91 -- to successfully defend her title at the prestigious combined WTA and ATP Masters 1000 hard court tournament.

Swiatek roared through the first set, winning 25 of 32 points.

She didn't have things quite so much her own way in the second. She never faced a break point, but Liu did manage to save a match point as she finally held serve in the penultimate game.

The crowd roared when Liu -- facing a top-ranked player for the first time -- slipped a forehand passing shot under Swiatek's guard on game point.

It brought a relieved smile to the American's face, but Swiatek closed it out in the next game after 65 minutes.

"For sure Claire used that moment when I didn't play as aggressive that I should be, but I'm pretty happy that I was able to close it out pretty fast," said Swiatek, the reigning French Open and US Open champion who was surprised in the round of 16 at the Australian Open in January.

Since then, the 21-year-old from Warsaw has successfully defended her title in Doha and reached the final in Dubai.

Defending men's champion Taylor Fritz, who toppled Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal in last year's final, had to work harder to get through his second-round opener, a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over 41st-ranked Ben Shelton.

"He has nothing to lose, so I did expect him to come out with a very high level," Fritz said.

"I just had to regroup, find a way to problem-solve. I'm happy to get through it," added the Californian, whose title at Delray Beach this year saw him become the first US man in the top five in the world rankings since Andy Roddick in 2009.

Fritz is seeded fourth in a field led by world number two Carlos Alcaraz, who was scheduled to open his campaign against Australian qualifier Thanasi Kokkinaki on Saturday night.

The 19-year-old Spaniard, whose US Open triumph last year saw him become the youngest-ever world number one, missed the Australian Open as a string of injuries sidelined him for four months.

He returned to win the title in Buenos Aires before falling in the final at Rio de Janeiro, where he was hindered by a hamstring strain that prompted him to pull out of the ATP tournament in Acapulco.

Eighth-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime and 11th-seeded Jannik Sinner both made it safely through. Auger-Aliassime beat Spain's Pedro Martinez 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 while Sinner beat French veteran Richard Gasquet 6-3, 7-6 (7/2).

- Murray advances -

Former world number one Andy Murray, grinding his way back after hip replacement surgery in 2019, defeated lucky loser Radu Albot 6-4, 6-3 -- the Briton's first straight-sets win in a year that has seen him pull off a string of unlikely marathon victories that included a five-set epic lasting five hours and 45 minutes in the second round of the Australian Open.

Murray booked a third-round clash with Jack Draper, who won an all-British battle with 24th seed Daniel Evans 6-4, 6-2.

Women's fifth seed Caroline Garcia of France overcame Hungarian Dalma Galfi 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4 to line up a meeting with Canadian Leylah Fernandez, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over American Emma Navarro.

Two-time Indian Wells winner Victoria Azarenka bowed out, the 14th seed falling to 67th-ranked Czech Karolina Muchova 7-6 (7/1), 6-3.

Meanwhile, unseeded Emma Raducanu, Britain's 2021 US Open champion, shook off a flare-up of her right wrist trouble to beat Australian Open semi-finalist Magda Linette of Poland 7-6 (7/3), 6-2.

Raducanu -- who has been slowed by wrist pain, an ankle injury and a bout of tonsillitis this year -- received treatment on her right wrist during the match, but dug deep to oust the 20th seed in one hour and 50 minutes.

It marked the first time since September in Seoul that Raducanu has put together back-to-back match wins -- one of which was a quarter-final triumph over Linette.

P.Tamimi--SF-PST