Osaka keeps Indian Wells title defence on track

INDIAN WELLS, United States: World number one and defending champion Naomi Osaka powered past American Danielle Collins 6-4, 6-2 on Monday to book a fourth-round meeting with resurgent Swiss Belinda Bencic at Indian Wells. Japan’s Osaka, whose second straight Grand Slam title at the Australian Open propelled her to the top of the rankings, traded breaks with Collins early in the first set.But she got the decisive break in the ninth game, giving herself a break point with a backhand winner before pouncing on a short ball and belting a forehand winner to give herself a chance to serve for the set.An increasingly confident Osaka broke Collins at love for a 2-1 lead in the second. She finished out the next game for a 3-1 lead and led 5-1 before Collins saved a match point to hold and make Osaka serve out the match. Collins, trying to build on a breakout run to the Australian Open semi-finals, failed in her bid to avenge her 6-1, 6-0 loss to Osaka in their only prior meeting in Beijing last year. And Osaka, whose first career title came at this prestigious WTA premier mandatory event last year, advanced to a meeting with Bencic, the 23rd seed who defeated Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2.Bencic stunned two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the final at Dubai last month to capture her first WTA title in four years. The 21-year-old stunned two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the final at Dubai last month to capture her first WTA title in four years. She won the WTA title in Toronto in 2015 before a series of back and wrist injuries saw her slide down the rankings. In other third-round action, three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber came from a set down to beat Russian qualifier Natalia Vikhlyantseva 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. After dropping her serve in the first game of the second set, Kerber won seven games in a row to force a third set and take a 2-0 lead in the decider.Indian Wells WTA/ATP Masters results (x-denotes seeded player):Women 3rd rd: Naomi Osaka (JPN x1) bt Danielle Collins (USA x25) 6-4, 6-2Belinda Bencic (SUI x23) bt Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) 6-4, 6-2Anett Kontaveit (EST) bt Anastasia Sevastova (LAT) 5-0 retiredKarolina Pliskova (CZE x5) bt Ysaline Bonaventure (BEL) 6-3, 6-2Venus Williams (USA) bt Christina McHale (USA) 6-2, 7-5Mona Barthel (GER) bt Julia Goerges (GER x15) 7-5, 1-6, 6-4Aryna Sabalenka (BLR x9) bt Lesia Tsurenko (UKR x24) 6-2, 7-5Angelique Kerber (GER x8) bt Natalia Vikhlyantseva (RUS) 3-6, 6-1, 6-3Men 3rd rd: Novak Djokovic (SRB x1) v Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 1-0 suspended by rainGael Monfils (FRA x18) bt Albert Ramos (ESP) 6-0, 6-3Ivo Karlovic (CRO) bt Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND) 6-3, 7-6 (7/3)Dominic Thiem (AUT x7) bt Gilles Simon (FRA x27) 6-3, 6-1Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) bt Alexander Zverev (GER x3) 6-3, 6-1Milos Raonic (CAN x13) bt Marcos Giron (USA) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) bt Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 7-6 (7/5)Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) bt Laslo Djere (SRB x30) 6-2, 7-6 (7/3).

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