French Open champion Garbine Muguruza survived a fierce challenge from US teenager Kayla Day Sunday to reach the fourth round of the WTA Indian Wells hard court tournament. The seventh-seeded Spaniard had to dig in to subdue the hard-hitting Californian 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 and set up a meeting with 10th seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.
Day, last year's US Open junior champion, had reached the third round with an upset of Australian Open semi-finalist Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. She needed little more than half an hour to seize a set from Muguruza, whose progress so far in 2017 has been hindered by injuries. Muguruza saved break points in the fifth and 11th games of the second set, finally converting her own first break chance to force the third.
By then Day was wilting in the baking heat of Stadium Court. Muguruza broke her in the second game of the final set and again in the final game as the left-handed youngster surrendered with a double-fault. "I think she played very good," Muguruza said. "She served very well. I think the first set I didn't play good. My level was not there. My shots were not there, and right away she took advantage and she won.
Muguruza will face a dangerous challenge from Svitolina, a two-time winner on the WTA tour this year who took her winning streak to 15 matches with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Australian Daria Gavrilova. In other women's matches Sunday, third-seeded Karolina Pliskova, inserted at the top of the draw after Serena Williams's late injury withdrawal, edged Romanian Irina Camelia Begu 6-4, 7-6 (7/2). France's Caroline Garcia rallied from a set down to defeat 11th-seeded Briton Johanna Konta 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/1) and book a meeting with eighth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. Kuznetsova downed Italian Roberta Vinci 6-2, 2-6, 6-1.
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