Berrettini raises his hand at Indian Wells and Halep gets first ticket to the quarterfinals

In pursuit of his first Masters 1000 title, Italy's Roberto Berrettini advanced to the round of 16 at Indian Wells on Tuesday, where he is the second seed after Rafa Nadal, while Simona Halep scored the first ticket to the women's quarters.

Berrettini, number 6 in the ATP ranking, beat South African Lloyd Harris (32nd) 6-4 and 7-5 in one hour and 32 minutes of play on track 2 in Indian Wells (California).

At 25 years old, the Italian has been climbing in the last two seasons to the biggest stages of the circuit.

In 2021 he fell in the Wimbledon final to Novak Djokovic and at this start of the campaign he reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, where he was lodged by Nadal.

Berrettini, the first Italian to reach the quarterfinals of each Grand Slam, aims to win his first Masters 1000 before facing the next big tournaments of the year.

With that mentality, he dispatched the fierce Lloyd Harris on Tuesday in two sets and won for the first time in the eighth in the Californian desert.

The Italian imposed his service (12 'aces'), one of the most feared on the circuit, to win the first round emphatically and overcome an adverse 1-4 in the second.

“It feels good to be for the first time” in the round of Indian Wells, he later acknowledged.

After suffering in three sets against young Danish Holger Rune at the premiere, Berrettini was not willing to face the same fate against Harris.

“I got a little nervous in the second set,” he admitted. “I didn't like it and let out my anger a little bit. Sometimes it's good. I think I found the balance to fail at the right time.”

With the fall of German Alexander Zverev (3rd ATP), Berrettini is the best placed to advance on his side of the draw.

In the same sector, Russian Andrey Rublev (7th) will face American Frances Tiafoe (30th) and Argentina's Diego Schwartzman (14th) on Tuesday against American John Isner (23rd).

On the other side, Spaniard Rafa Nadal (4th) also has the clearest path after the eliminations of Russian Daniil Medvedev (1st) and Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (5th).

Berrettini's quarter-finisher rival will be Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, number 61 of the ATP, who on Tuesday beat Dutch Botic Van De Zandschulp (47th) 7-6 (7/3) and 7-5.

- Badosa for rooms -

In the women's draw, Romanian Simona Halep, winner of two Grand Slam titles, won the first ticket of the quarterfinals by defeating her compatriot Sorana Cirstea on Tuesday.

Halep, number 26 in the WTA ranking, beat Cirstea (27th) 6-1 and 6-4 in one hour and 22 minutes of play on the center court.

In this way, Halep returns four years later to the quarterfinals of this WTA 1000 category tournament, after several seasons marked by injuries.

“I always play my best tennis here because I love the conditions,” said Halep, champion of the 2015 edition.

After losing the first set by a resounding 6-1, Cirstea reacted by placing 0-2 at the start of the second set.

Halep, solvent in service and more forceful in the exchanges, chained three games in a row to shape up to win on the fast track.

“Today was definitely not an easy match. It's always hard for me to play against a Romanian (tennis player). But I tried to treat it like a normal match and it went well,” said the winner of Roland Garros (2018) and Wimbledon (2019)

Her quarterfinal rival will be Croatia's Petra Martic, who beat Russia's Liudmila Samsonova 7-6 (8/6) and 6-4.

The Spanish title defender Paula Badosa will be looking for the quarterfinals on Tuesday against young Canadian Leylah Fernández, runner-up at the last US Open.

- Tuesday's results at the Indian Wells tournament:

Men's

Third round

Matteo Berrettini (ITA/N.6) defeated Lloyd Harris (RSA/N.30) 6-4, 7-5

Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) a Botic of the Sand Shell (NED) 7-6 (7/3), 7-5

Women's

Round of 16

Simona Halep (RUM/N.24) defeated Sorana Cirstea (RUM/N.26) 6-1, 6-4

Petra Martic (CRO) a Liudmila Samsonova (RUS/N.28) 7-6 (8/6), 6-4

gbv/ol