Following Iga Swiatek’s 6-0 6-0 win on Day 8 of the tournament, Aryna Sabalenka will look to produce a statement performance of her own on Monday afternoon. She plays Emma Navarro for a spot in the quarter finals with the winner guaranteed to play an unseeded player.
Navarro has won all three of her matches in straight sets this tournament, most recently doing so against Madison Keys. She is a fairly accomplished counterpuncher and made things very difficult for her fellow American, eventually taking it 7-6 7-6. A spot in the Top 20 will finally be hers after the tournament, a fair reward for her efforts over the past 12 months.
After a close first set, Sabalenka ran away with the match against good friend Paula Badosa. She was all over her serve in the 7-5 6-1, breaking seven times overall. It’s clear she is a very strong player on clay with her recent results showing she is more than just power on this surface. “Today was a day when I wasn’t thinking that much,” Sabalenka said. “I was just feeling the game and trusting myself and going for all those shots.”
Navarro will take some confidence from her win over Sabalenka at Indian Wells but will face an opponent who will have learnt from her mistakes of last time. The second seed is also much improved from two months ago but will need to be aware against an opponent who is more than capable of doing damage on return on a bad serving day. A good performance should see Sabalenka through but she will be punished if she has an off-day.
Prediction – Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets
