Emma Raducanu’s Indian Wells run ended with a dominant Iga Swiatek | Jack Draper retires injured | Tennis News

Emma Raducanu’s run in Indian Wells is over after world No. 1 Iga Swiatek continued her title defense with a 6-3 6-1 victory on Tuesday to set up a quarter-final against unseeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea.

Swiatek came under pressure early in the first set, but a few crisp ball strikes helped her hold a 3-2 lead after two tight service games. She raised her level again to break Raducanu in the next game before walking away.

After ending the first set when Raducanu sent a long shot from the baseline, Swiatek grabbed an early break in the second to put pressure on the Briton, whose unforced errors started to mount.

Swiatek, who tried to become the second player to successfully defend the Indian Wells title after Martina Navratilova in 1990-91, took a 5-1 lead playing clear tennis and running her opponent to shreds .

The US Open champion closed out the victory when Raducanu hit the net on serve in a tame end to her fine run in the Southern California desert.

Earlier in the day, Coco Gauff rebounded from a breakdown in the final set to beat Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson 6-3 1-6 6-4 and reach the quarters for the first time.

After winning the first set, the sixth-seeded American started to struggle with her forehand in the second and an opportunistic Peterson applied the pressure as she entered the net.

But after suffering an early break in the decider, Gauff strengthened his defense, fending off three break points at 4-4 and smashing Peterson for the fourth time on match point to book his place in the last eight.

Gauff, who turned 19 on Monday, was later serenaded with a rendition of “Happy Birthday” by the crowd.

“Today was just a mental thing, staying in the game,” Gauff said.

“I didn’t play my best at times and didn’t serve as well as I would have liked, but I think my mentality kept me going today.”

Draper retires injured against Alcaraz

Jack Draper was forced to retire in the second set of his fourth-round clash with Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

The 21-year-old Briton was eventually defeated by an abdominal injury picked up in his previous game against Andy Murray.

He went blow for blow with the Spanish world number 2 at the start, but fell noticeably behind as the first set progressed.

Draper’s serve and movement suffered as Alcaraz ran away with the opener 6-2.

Some physio treatment between sets did little to improve his condition, and the world No. 43 was only able to last two games in the second set before retiring.

The result means Alcaraz moves within three wins of regaining the world No.1 ranking.