Indian Wells: Emma Raducanu into round three as Dayana Yastremska retires

The UK's Emma Raducanu advanced to the third round at Indian Wells following Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska's retirement in the first set due to sickness.

The 21-year-old tennis player Raducanu made an incredibly speedy start to the match by earning four points in only 18 minutes in the initial set.

After playing a few games, Yastremska, a Ukrainian tennis player, moved to the rear of the court and held her stomach. Eventually, she decided to quit the game after getting evaluated by the medical experts.

Raducanu's upcoming opponent for the next match is the 25-year-old Aryna Sabalenka, who is currently ranked as the second best player in the world.

The athlete from Belarus, who triumphantly defended her title at the Australian Open earlier this year, battled against her American opponent Peyton Stearns and overcame a tiebreak in the third set to ultimately win with a score of 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 7-6 (8-6).

When asked about Yastremska's sickness, Raducanu replied that she was not aware of it at all. The news caught her off guard, but she was determined to stay focused on her part of the game. Fortunately, she maintained that level of concentration throughout the match from the beginning till the end.

I kept my gameplay neat and tidy for four matches, and I'm saddened for Dayana as she has had to deal with a lot. It's hard for me to watch someone go through an injury, and I can understand how she feels. I've experienced both sickness and injury myself, and it's an awful ordeal for any athlete to endure.

In the beginning of the match, Raducanu, who was granted a wild card, cleverly hit a drop shot to gain the advantage of breaking Yastremska's serve. She then showed her defensive skills by preventing Yastremska from breaking her own serve.

Raducanu skillfully executed a powerful backhand stroke that resulted in her earning a second break point. Following this point, she easily maintained her lead in the fourth game.

Yastremska had to withdraw early in her solitary encounter with Raducanu at Portoroz in Slovenia in the year 2022, due to an injury.

Raducanu has not achieved back-to-back wins since her three consecutive victories that led her to the fourth round of the Indian Wells tournament in March 2023.

Coco Gauff, who is from the United States and only 19 years old, had a challenging match against Clara Burel. She had to work hard to win 2 sets to 1, with the final set being decided by a tiebreaker. Gauff's victory means that she has made it to the third round of the tournament.

Following the first set, Burel - ranked 47th in the world - was leading 2-0 in the second set. However, Gauff soon found her groove and managed to break Burel twice, resulting in a 6-3 victory.

Gauff, who holds the third spot in the world rankings, was behind by 4-0 and 5-2 in the third and last set. However, she exhibited great determination and managed to win six out of the next eight games. This enabled her to push the game into a tie-breaker, which she eventually won on the third match point.

Sky Sports interviewed Gauff, who expressed her satisfaction with the intellectual challenge she faced.

My tennis performance was not at its finest. The important thing is not how well you play on your best days but how you perform on your worst ones. Despite not being at my best, I am content with how I played today.

Gauff, the champion of the US Open, achieved her 50th WTA 1,000 win, which is a remarkable feat for a teenager. She accomplished this just four days prior to her 20th birthday.

Naomi Osaka from Japan has advanced to the third round of competition by defeating Russia's Liudmila Samsonova, who was ranked as the 14th seed in the tournament, with scores of 7-5 and 6-3.

Two additional players got eliminated from the competition as Anna Blinkova of Russia defeated American Jessica Pegula, who is ranked fifth in the world, with a score of 6-2, 3-6, and 6-3. At the same time, Yue Yuan of China pulled off an upset against her fellow citizen Qinwen Zheng by winning the match 6-4 and 6-3.

The 16th ranked player, Elina Svitolina from Ukraine, advanced in the tournament by defeating Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic with sets of 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.