INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA - The doubles round of 16 is set at the BNP Paribas Open after top seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova edged through a tough battle, needing a match tiebreaker to get past Alicja Rosolska and Yang Zhaoxuan, 7-6(2), 4-6, 10-7.
Earlier in the tournament Krejcikova and Siniakova, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champions, had to battle past unseeded Ashleigh Barty and Caroline Garcia - who are primarily singles players who’ve linked up for the fortnight, a growing trend during this year’s event.
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Their next opponents will be Monday’s other doubles winners, Kiki Bertens and Donna Vekic, who defeated Alison Riske and Jennifer Brady in straight sets 6-4, 6-0 to advance.
Their victory sets up the Round of 16 matchups after two rounds full of upsets and surprise partnerships.
In the third round, the No.3 seeded team of Barbora Strycova and Hsieh Su-Wei will face No.8 seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Latisha in the round’s the only all-seeds match up.
Strycova and Hsieh had no easy start to their doubles campaign, having to escape from a tough challenge against unseeded Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova in a match tiebreaker, 6-4, 3-6, 10-6. For their part, the Chan sisters have yet to drop a set after getting past another all-sister duo, defeating Nadiia Kichenok and Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-3, 6-4 en route to their meeting against the No.3 seeds.
In action tomorrow, the No.5 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski will the face unseed team of Darija Jurak, Raluca Olaru, who sprung a first-round upset over No.4 Nicole Melichar and Kveta Peschke to advance.
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Meanwhile, tournament surprises Aryna Sabalenka and Elise Mertens will try to continue their torrid run against unseeded duo Kaitlyn Christian and Asia Muhammad in the third round.
Sabalenka and Mertens opened their Indian Wells campaign with a huge upset against pre-tournament favorites Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic, the No.2 seeds. The pair edged through 6-1, 6-7(4), 10-8, and then backed up the win with another match tiebreak victory over veteran duo Raquel Atawo and Katarina Srebotnik, 5-7, 6-3, 11-9.
