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Sabalenka to battle Osaka for place in Indian Wells quarterfinals

Aryna Sabalenka. Photo courtesy of the NOC of Belarus

MINSK, 10 March (BelTA) – Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka will play her third match at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, USA, with a prize fund of $9.4 million, BelTA has learned.

In the match for a place in the quarterfinals, the world number one will face Japanese Naomi Osaka (world No. 16). Previously, the two have faced each other on just one occasion at professional level – at the 2018 US Open round of 16, where Osaka overcame Sabalenka in a three-set encounter, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

So far in Indian Wells, Aryna Sabalenka has cruised past Japanese Himeno Sakatsume (world No. 132) 6-4, 6-2, and Romanian Jaqueline Cristian (No. 35) 6-4, 6-1.

The competition in Indian Wells will conclude on 15 March. In the 2025, Aryna Sabalenka lost to Russian tennis player Mirra Andreeva, and in the decisive match of 2023, she was defeated by Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. In 2012 and 2016, Belarusian Victoria Azarenka was crowned champion of this tournament.

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