Kerber overcomes qualifier to reach Indian Wells 4th round

Angelique Kerber beat Natalia Vikhlyantseva to reach the WTA Indian Wells fourth round.

INDIAN WELLS (AFP) - Three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber came from a set down against qualifier Natalia Vikhlyantseva on Monday to reach the WTA Indian Wells fourth round.

Eighth-ranked Kerber, a two-time semi-finalist in the California desert, shook off a slow start to beat the 112th-ranked Russian 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

After dropping her serve in the first game of the second set, Kerber won seven games in a row to force a third set and take a 2-0 lead in the decider.

She was unable to convert four match points against Vikhlyantseva s serve at 5-1 and was broken at love when serving for the match at 5-2 before finally putting it away.

"I think it gives me confidence that I can turn around matches, that I can play also three sets, also in the close moments that I m there, that I can trust myself," said Kerber.

She said it was always difficult to face a player for the first time, and she ll be doing the same in the fourth round against Aryna Sabalenka, the ninth seed from Belarus who defeated Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 7-5.

Defending champion Naomi Osaka, whose Australian Open triumph propelled her to number one in the world, headlines the battles for a place in the round of 16 when she takes on American Danielle Collins in the night session on Stadium Court.

Osaka opened her campaign with a straight-sets victory over Kristina Mladenovic, avenging her shock loss to the French player at Dubai in February.

Collins is trying to build on a breakout run at the Australian Open, where she fell in the semi-finals to two-time Wimbledon champion Petro Kvitova.

Osaka won their only prior meeting in Beijing last year 6-1, 6-0, a result that left Collins eager for "another crack" at the world number one.

"There is no way it could go any worse for me," Collins said. "That s really as bad as it can get in terms of the score and how quickly the match went."

Fifth-seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova survived an off day to reach the round of 16 with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Belgian qualifier Ysaline Bonaventure.

"The only good thing was my serve today, with a lot of aces and service winners," Pliskova said. "Overall, I think my game was a bit bad. The conditions changed from my last match, but hopefully in the next match I can play better."

That will be against Estonian Anett Kontaveit, who was leading 5-0 against 11th-seeded Anastasija Sevastova when the Latvian retired from their match.

One day after 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams retired from her third round match because of illness, Venus Williams kept the family flag flying with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Christina McHale.

Williams pulled back a break in the second set to book a round of 16 clash with Mona Barthel, a 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 winner over Julia Goerges in an all-German contest.