Simona Halep has edged into the fourth round of the Indian Wells Masters with a 6-2 4-6 6-4 win over Lucie Safarova.
Both players had little trouble holding onto their own serve in the opening games of the match, but it was Halep who made the first breakthrough, winning against serve on her third break point to take a 4-2 lead in the first set.
The Romanian then held her own serve before breaking again in the final game of the set to take the opener 6-2, sealing it with a love game.
The second set went with serve until the ninth game, when Safarova earned three break points in a mammoth game, taking the third and then holding serve to win the set 6-4.
The Czech was in the driving seat by the fifth game of the deciding set, breaking Halep again to take a 3-2 lead, only for the sixth seed to break straight back.
Safarova broke again in the very next game, but once more Halep fought right back to level things up before holding her own serve and breaking the number 26 seed for a third straight game to take the final set 6-4.
Barney Corkhill
