Fernandez eliminated in round of 16 at Indian Wells

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Canada's Leylah Fernandez has been eliminated from the BNP Paribas Open.

The 19-year-old from Laval, Que., lost 6-4, 6-4 to defending champion Paula Badosa of Spain in Tuesday night's round of 16.

Fernandez arrived at Indian Wells on the heels of a victory at the Monterrey Open a week earlier, the second WTA title of her career.

Badosa beat Victoria Azarenka in a three-hour final to win the 2021 BNP Paribas Open.

Taylor Fritz defeated Spanish qualifier Jaume Munar 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (2) in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open, making him one of five American men still alive in the desert tournament.

Fritz reached the semifinals at Indian Wells last year, his career-best result in an ATP Masters 1000 event. The son of former WTA Tour pro Kathy May has been on an upward trajectory since, reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open in January — his best showing yet in a Grand Slam event.

John Isner beat 14th-seeded Diego Schwartzman, 7-5, 6-3, to reach the fourth round. The six-foot-11 American capitalized on his 16-inch height advantage, blasting 13 aces and frustrating Schwartzman with clever drop shots. Isner didn’t even need any tiebreakers; 18 of his 30 sets played this year have ended in tiebreakers.

Two other Americans, Tommy Paul and wild-card Steve Johnson, got beat. Paul lost to 29th-seeded Alex de Minaur, 7-6 (2), 6-4. Johnson dropped a 7-6 (7), 6-3 decision to 11th-seeded Hubert Hurkacz.

“Tommy is really close to cracking into being seeded at slams,” Fritz said. “Reilly (Opelka) is consistently beating very, very good players. It's not weird to see these guys beating really good players, having solid results.”

Americans Frances Tiafoe and Steve Johnson were to play night matches.

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