Harriet Dart’s Indian Wells adventure ended by Madison Keys as American sets up Iga Swiatek clash
Harriet Dart bowed out of the BNP Paribas Open as Madison Keys powered past the qualifier to book a date with Iga Swiatek.
Having beaten Ana Konjuh, Elina Svitolina and Kaia Kanepi en route to her first-ever fourth-round appearance in a WTA 1000 event, Dart was high on confidence, but she couldn’t repeat her earlier heroics as the American won 6-1, 6-4 in just over an hour.
🔑 vs 🎯 goes the way of @Madison_Keys!
The last American in the singles field halts Dart 6-1, 6-4 to book her 🎟 ticket to the quarterfinals.#IndianWells pic.twitter.com/i6OKhEc5df
— wta (@WTA) March 15, 2022
Former US Open runner-up Keys required just 27 minutes to win the opening set after breaking twice while Dart put up a better fight in the second set with the 25th seed breaking to love in game nine.
Dart’s run in the desert, though, will see her rise into the world top 100 for the first time.
Keys, who will face former French Open champion Swiatek in the quarter-final, was pleased that everything clicked on the day.
“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,” she said.
“It’s just, I think, obviously translating.”
Swiatek defeated three-time Grand Slam winner and former world No 1 Angelique Kerber 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the last eight in Indian Wells for the first time.
“She’s such an experienced player,” the Pole said. “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.”
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