Halep and Swiatek seal quarter-final spots
Paula Badosa went a step closer to defending her Indian Wells Open title as she ended Leylah Fernandez's run to reach the quarter-finals.
Badosa was calm under pressure against last year's US Open runner-up, saving five out of the six breakpoints she offered up in a 6-4 6-4 success.
Matters were less routine for third seed Iga Swiatek, who held her nerve to come back from a set down against three-time major champion Angelique Kerber.
Breakpoints were contested in six of the match's first eight games and Kerber made the big points count, but Swiatek went on to triumph 4-6 6-2 6-3.
Swiatek, 20, showed grit beyond her years as she broke Kerber's serve four times in the second set, cleaning up her first-serve percentage while the German was only able to win 31 per cent of her successful first-serves (4-13).
Both women hit over 70 per cent of their first-serves in the final set, with the difference coming down to the return game, where Swiatek won half of her return points (12-24), with Kerber struggling (5-22).
Swiatek will face American Madison Keys, who defeated Harriet Dart in a brisk 69 minutes, while Badosa goes up against Veronika Kudermetova, who overcame Naomi Osaka in contentious circumstances earlier in the tournament.
