World No 1 wins 6-2, 6-4 against Japanese
Australian qualifier Talia Gibson stuns Paolini
Aryna Sabalenka eased past Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-4 to reach the Indian Wells quarter-finals while the fourth seed, Alexander Zverev, progressed to the last eight in the men’s event.
Sabalenka and Osaka, both four-time grand slam title winners, were meeting for the first time since 2018, when the Japanese won at the US Open en route to her maiden major title, but the world No 1’s power proved too much for one of her predecessors.
“Yeah, that’s crazy, for so many years we only played once. I’m pretty sure we are playing many more matches – she’s coming back playing great tennis,” Sabalenka said in her on-court interview. “I’m pretty happy for the result today, much better than last time.”
