British duo Emma Raducanu and Cameron Norrie both progressed to the third round of the Indian Wells Masters on Saturday evening.
The former won the first four games of her second-round showdown with Ukrainian 30th seed Dayana Yastremska, who was unfortunately forced to retire with an apparent illness after just 21 minutes.
History repeat itself for Yastremska, who also had to concede defeat to Raducanu when the pair met for the first time on the WTA Tour at the 2022 Zavarovalnica Sava Portoroz.
Raducanu now faces a possible third-round showdown with second seed and reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, who tackles Peyton Stearns in her opening battle.
© Reuters
Following Raducanu's progression, British number one Norrie kicked off his bid for a second Indian Wells triumph against Italy's Lorenzo Sonego, who was no match for the 2021 champion on the afternoon.
Norrie took just over an hour and a half to post a 6-4 6-4 victory, during which he won 67% of points on Sonego's second serve, although he was broken once while serving for the match before coming good on the second occasion.
Either Gael Monfils or Polish eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz will pit their wits against Norrie in the third round, and the 28th seed is on a collision course to reunite with Casper Ruud - whom he memorably beat at the Australian Open - in round four.
Ben Knapton
