Top-ranked Swiatek wins rematch with Noskova at Indian Wells

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Iga Swiatek avenged her Australian Open ouster at the hands of Linda Noskova, defeating the Czech teenager 6-4, 6-0 in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday.

Second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz and third-seeded Jannik Sinner each advanced in straight sets in the men's draw, but fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev lost to No. 32 seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-4.

Swiatek advances to the round of 16, where the top-ranked Polish star will face Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan. Putintseva defeated Madison Keys 6-4, 6-1, part of a tough start to the day for American singles players.

Francis Tiafoe also lost in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3 to Stefanos Tsitsipas. The 11th-seeded Tsitsipas will face Lehecka in the men's round of 16.

Noskova beat Swiatek in three sets in Australia, becoming the first teen to beat a No. 1-ranked woman at that event in 25 years. The rematch was competitive for a set, but Swiatek eventually rolled to victory in just under 73 minutes.

“I made some mistakes at the beginning. I tried to maybe play to finish the rallies too early,” Swiatek said. “But I knew that if I’m going to try to stay consistent and make a little bit less mistakes, my chances may come.”

Jasmine Paolini won another tight match against Anna Kalinskaya, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Paolini won the Dubai Championships two weeks ago, rallying to win a three-set final over Kalinskaya.

Alcaraz beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 6-3, and Sinner ousted Jan Lennard-Struff 6-3, 6-4.

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula defeated Sofia Kenin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands 7-5, 6-3 in an all-American doubles matchup. The top-seeded men's doubles team is out after the first round — Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen eliminated Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden 7-6, 4-6, 10-8.

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