No.6 seed Maria Sakkari kicked off Monday's play at the BNP Paribas Open with an emphatic 6-3, 6-0 victory over No.27 seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in their third-round clash.

Sakkari needed just 65 minutes on Stadium 2 to book her spot in the fourth round of the WTA 1000 event. Sakkari edges ahead by four wins to three in her head-to-head with two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova.

Fast facts: Sakkari returns to the Round of 16 in Indian Wells for the first time since she made her tournament main-draw debut in 2018. She currently holds a spell over Czech players, having now won her last seven matches against opponents from that country.

Sakkari had a nearly perfect winning percentage when she got her first serve into play during the match, winning 24 of those 25 points (96 percent). The Greek was never broken by Kvitova, saving the two break points she faced, which both came at 5-3 in the opening set.

Two-time Indian Wells Kvitova quarterfinalist owns 54 Top 10 wins in her career, but after this loss to Sakkari, she is 2-10 in her past 12 matches against that group. 

Thoughts from Sakkari: "Obviously Petra is a very tough opponent, but I came [onto] the court and I was feeling it today," Sakkari said in her post-match press conference. "I think it was a very good day for me and like not a good day for her. I was just tactically playing the right way and serving really good, so I think that was the reason why I won that match quite easily.

"There are games that I might not serve that well. There will be a couple of games in a set that I won't be acing every point or I won't be making that many first serves, so then I just trust my game from the baseline that I can just out-grind the opponent. It's just that I have a Plan A and a Plan B, which I think is good and that's what got me to the top."

Read more: The best quotes from Week 1 in Indian Wells

Match moments: Kvitova was in early trouble on serve in the match, facing a break point in her opening service game before swatting that chance away with a volley winner en route to a hold for 1-1.

But Sakkari converted her next chance, breaking for 5-3 after a forehand error by Kvitova. Demonstrating sturdy rally tolerance throughout the set, Sakkari staved off two break points when serving for the set and notched the one-set lead with a forehand winner.

Sakkari won 100 percent of points behind her first serve in the opener (16-for-16) and she extended that stellar form into the second set. She cruised past the big-serving Czech to collect the bagel and book her spot in the last 16.

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Saville stuns Mertens

Sakkari's opponent in the Round of 16 will be resurgent Aussie Daria Saville, a qualifier who claimed another upset this week with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win over No.20 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium.

"I'm really proud of myself," Saville said after her win. "I had some really, really good moments, and some games where I was like, 'What was that?' ... It was an interesting one, but I was able to be more aggressive in the third set."

Read more: After surgery, Daria Saville storms back to her best in Indian Wells

In just under three hours, Saville gritted past Mertens to back up her victory over No.9 seed Ons Jabeur in the previous round, which was her first Top 10 win since 2018.

This is Saville's first Round-of-16 showing at Indian Wells in her six main-draw appearances. Saville reached the third round three straight times between 2017 and 2019, but missed last year's edition.

The second straight upset continues a superb comeback season for Saville, who peaked at World No.20 in 2017 (under her maiden name Gavrilova) before being beset by injuries for the past few years. Saville eventually underwent Achilles surgery 12 months ago.

Saville returned to Hologic WTA Tour action in Adelaide at the start of this season and reached her first tour-level quarterfinal since 2019 in Guadalajara last month. Currently ranked No.409, Saville will now face her second Top 10 player of the event when she takes on Sakkari.

Saville won her only previous meeting against Sakkari at a Challenger event in San Antonio, Texas back in 2016. Saville fought back from a set and a break down to capture that victory.