For the third straight time this fortnight, Iga Swiatek found herself a set down at the BNP Paribas Open. And for the third straight time, the No.3 seed from Poland found a way to storm back.

Swiatek outlasted former World No.1 Angelique Kerber 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in their first career meeting. 

Not only was Swiatek down a set, but she also had to charge back from a break down in the third set before booking a spot in the first Indian Wells quarterfinal of her career. 

Words from the winner: "For sure it was really hard playing against her," Swiatek said. "She's such an experienced player.

"At the end I think I made the right decisions in the right time, in the right moments of the match. I'm pretty happy about that because in important moments in second and third [sets], I was winning points. That's the most important thing."

"Obviously you learn from that first set and you can use that. I think I'm doing that pretty well. But for sure my goal is to win every set. On my next match, I'm going to be ready to win that first one."

On a roll: 2020 Roland Garros champion Swiatek took 2 hours and 8 minutes to knock out 15th-seeded Kerber, who has three Grand Slam titles to her credit and was the BNP Paribas Open runner-up in 2019 (falling to Bianca Andreescu in that final).

Like she had in her two preceding matches this week against Anhelina Kalinina and Clara Tauson, Swiatek had to battle back from a one-set deficit. But Swiatek prevailed to extend her winning streak to eight victories in a row -- her most consecutive wins since last year's clay-court season.

This current winning streak has all come at WTA 1000 events, where she still is yet to suffer a loss this season. In the first WTA 1000 event of the year, Swiatek claimed the title in Doha, defeating Anett Kontaveit in the final.

Swiatek leads the tour with 17 match-wins this season. This latest victory is also her 15th career win over a Top 20 player and her fourth against that group so far this year.

Match moments: After an early exchange of breaks, Kerber took charge in the first set with a break for 3-2 after two straight double faults by Swiatek. Kerber let a 5-2 double-break lead slide back to 5-4, but the German held on to capture the one-set lead.

In the second set, a run of five straight breaks put Swiatek ahead 4-2, and the Pole ended that streak with a commanding love hold to take a sturdy 5-2 lead. In the next game, Swiatek drew errors from Kerber to clinch another service break and tie up the match.

Swiatek started the third set with two more love holds, but Kerber still struck first in the decider, slamming a backhand winner to break for 3-2. However, Swiatek regrouped and finished off a rally with a forehand winner on break point in the very next game, reclaiming parity.

That unlocked a dominant run for Swiatek, who held at love once more, then earned another break of the Kerber serve to lead 5-3. An unreturnable serve closed out the match in the next game, and Swiatek had once again pulled off a three-set comeback.

Keys awaits in quarterfinals: Swiatek will now take on No.25 seed Madison Keys of the United States in the elite eight. Keys powered past British qualifier Harriet Dart 6-1, 6-4 in just over an hour to notch a BNP Paribas Open quarterfinal spot for the first time in her career.

Highlights: Keys def. Dart

In their previous meeting, Keys had beaten Dart 6-3, 7-6(2) in the first round of Melbourne Summer Set 2 in January. Keys had an easier time of it on home soil, facing and erasing a solitary break point in the Indian Wells clash.

"I think I've made a really conscious decision to just try to put myself in the best position that I can on the tennis court, and remind myself why I started playing tennis, just enjoy that part of it," Keys said afterward. "It's just, I think, obviously translating."

Keys won 81 percent of points behind her first service and broke the World No.122 three times. After a swift first set, Dart fought to 4-4 in the second set, but Keys broke the qualifier at love en route to setting up a showdown with Swiatek.

Keys and Swiatek both reached the semifinals of this year's first Grand Slam, the 2022 Australian Open, but lost to Ashleigh Barty and Danielle Collins, respectively.

Swiatek won her only previous meeting with Keys in straight sets, en route to the title on the clay courts of Rome last year.

Sakkari advances past injured Saville

No.6 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece moved into the BNP Paribas Open quarterfinals for the first time after Australian qualifier Daria Saville withdrew from their match midway through the first set due to a left thigh injury.

Former Top 20 player Saville had pulled off a resurgent event after coming back from Achilles surgery last year, notching her first Top 10 win since 2018 over Ons Jabeur, then following up with another upset of Elise Mertens to reach the Round of 16.

But an ailing Saville was unable to continue her run and retired after an off-court medical timeout while Sakkari led 4-1.

Sakkari had to save three break points just to open the match, surviving a grueling 13-minute game to hold for 1-0. But the Greek took charge of the affair by breaking for 2-0 in another protracted game, before Saville was unfortunately forced to call a halt to the match.