Sawt Falasteen - Sabalenka sails into Indian Wells last 16

The Belarusian star belted 23 winners in an impressive display against her 35th-ranked opponent and will next face either 16th-seeded Naomi Osaka of Japan or Camila Osorio.

There were a few blips, notably a double fault on break point as she served for the opening set. Sabalenka responded by breaking Cristian to pocket the set and was satisfied with an overpowering performance.

"I knew that she was not going to give up easily," she said. "That's why I was super-focused, especially on my serve. I didn't want to give her much opportunity so super-happy with the serving, with the game and of course with the win."

In other matches, Osaka faced off against Osorio after falling to the Colombian in the first round last year.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka is playing her first tournament since withdrawing before her Australian Open third-round match with an abdominal injury.

Osaka -- who won her first WTA title at Indian Wells in 2018 -- booked her third-round berth with a relatively smooth 7-5, 6-2 victory over qualifier Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva while Osorio saved three match points in her second round victory over Iva Jovic.

Sixth-seeded American Amanda Anisimova faces another former Grand Slam champion in Britain's Emma Raducanu, who last month reached her first WTA final since her shock run to the 2021 US Open title.

Fourth-seeded Coco Gauff headlines the night session, taking on rising Philippines star Alexandra Eala -- who gets a quick chance for revenge after falling 6-0, 6-2 to the American in the Dubai quarter-finals last month.

"I'm excited," Eala said. "It was a tough match for me last time. I think she played really well. So all I can do is take the learnings that I have from our last match and try to implement that in our next one."

Gauff, coming off an "awkward" 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) win over qualifier Kamilla Rakhimova, can expect plenty of crowd support. But so can Eala, who is drawing her usual contingent of loyal Filipino fans in the California desert.

"It means the world to have this community behind me in such a prestigious tournament," Eala said after enthusiastic fans backed her through a chilly, late-night win over Dayana Yastremska. "It really added to the feelings and the emotions after the match."

A.AbuSaada--SF-PST