Kartal, Draper, Boulter & Norrie sail into third round at BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells
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Four British tennis players are through to the third round at the BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells after Sonay Kartal, Jack Draper, Katie Boulter and Cam Norrie all sealed hard-fought victories in the Californian desert.
The combined WTA and ATP 1000 event is one of the biggest events of the tennis season and is often referred to as the ‘fifth Grand Slam’.
The Brits have already made a strong start at the tournament, with four players punching their tickets to the third round.
Kartal claims best career win by ranking
Just four days ago British No.3 Kartal thought her Indian Wells journey had come to an end after losing out to Clervie Ngounoue in the final round of qualifying.
Fast forward to Saturday and after taking advantage of a lucky loser spot, the British No.3 has surged into the third round at the WTA 1000 event after thrashing 16th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-2, 6-1.
Kartal kick-started her main draw campaign on Thursday with a 7-6(6), 6-2 win over Varvara Lepchenko and appeared to pick up where she left off in her second round encounter against the Brazillian star.
During the one hour and nine minute battle, the 23-year-old Brit broke the world No.17 five times and dropped just three games before closing out the biggest win of her career on her second match point.
As a result, Kartal has now jumped to a new career-high ranking of No.70 in the WTA live rankings and could climb even higher should she get past Polina Kudermetova in the next round.
Draper downs rising star Fonseca
British No.1 Draper made a strong statement on his return to Indian Wells after brushing aside rising star Joao Fonseca 6-4, 6-0.
The 23-year-old managed to neutralise the threat of the 18-year-old who has been in the spotlight since claiming his first ATP Tour title in Argentina last month.
Fonseca has quickly made a name for himself thanks to his deadly forehand and aggressive gamestyle, but it was the experience of the world No.12 that proved pivotal in their first career meeting on Saturday.
After finding a late breakthrough to take the opening set, it was one way traffic for Draper who closed out his ninth consecutive game and the match in an hour and 16 minutes.
Next, he will take on American Jenson Brooksby, who knocked out 17th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets earlier today.
Boulter battles back to earn first Indian Wells win
After being given a first round bye, Boulter marked her return from injury with a comeback victory over Irina-Camelia Begu on Friday, winning 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-0 to reach the third round at Indian Wells for the first time.
The match marked the British No.1's third tournament of the year and her first since the Australian Open after being forced to the sidelines to nurse a foot injury.
Boulter’s lack of recent match time was evident in the early stages of the match as she quickly fell 4-1 down in the opening set. However, in a resilient display, the three-time WTA titleholder soon fought back to take Begu to a tie-break which eventually fell the way of the Romanian.
Despite trailing a set, Boulter refused to back down and once she found her rhythm there was simply no stopping her. The 28-year-old dropped just three games across the second and third sets to seal a career-first victory at Indian Wells.
Next up, she faces stiff competition in the form of world No.7 and former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina on Sunday.
Norrie comes from behind to beat Lehecka
Boulter wasn’t the only Brit who came back from a set down to win in the desert on Friday night.
British No.2 Norrie picked up where he left off after his first round win over Luca Nardi as he went on to oust 23rd seeded Jiri Lehecka 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Norrie is a former champion at this event having etched his name on the trophy back in 2021. Since then, he’s found plenty of joy on the Californian hard courts, having reached the quarter-finals on two occasions (2022, 2023) and currently holds a 15-5 win record at the tournament.
The 29-year-old will bid to continue his stay at the ATP Masters 1000 event against 10th seed Tommy Paul in the last 32 on Sunday.
The Brit currently leads the American 3-1 in their head-to-head, with their last meeting coming in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon back in 2022 where Norrie recorded a straight sets victory over Paul.
When are the Brits playing at Indian Wells?
Sunday
- Katie Boulter vs Elena Rybakina
- Cam Norrie vs Tommy Paul
Monday
- Jack Draper vs Jenson Brooksby
- Sonay Kartal vs Polina Kudermetova
How to watch the Brits in action at Indian Wells
You can watch all the Brits third round matches live and exclusively on Sky Sports Tennis and Now TV.
