Indian Wells: Madison Keys and Simona Halep reach the quarter finals

Madison Keys, who was defeated in the Australian Open semifinals, beat Harriet Dart to advance to the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, Romanian Simona Halep clinched an easy win over fellow Romanian Sorana Cirstea

Madison Keys entered the tournament after three consecutive loss but she seems steadier as of now. She wrapped up her last game in 68 minutes, hit 18 winners, and saved the only break point she tackled. 

Madison Keys will now encounter World No. 4 Iga Swiatek, in the last eight.

Despite the challenges that lie's ahead, Madison Keys is determined to maintain her focus. "I definitely think having such a great game to break after having some chances earlier in the (final) set and not capitalising on them (was the key)," she revealed during her on-court media interaction.

"I was a bit nervous but being able to serve it out in a straightforward way was the good part.

"I’m just happy I've won some matches here. It's the most I’ve ever put together here and to be back in front of a crowd again, especially a home crowd, feels really good."

25-year-old Harriet Dart will go home with her newfound entry into the top 100 for the first time in her career. She will also become the British number two behind Emma Raducanu. The women's round of 16 at Indian Wells was left with only three top 10 players, namely Iga Swiatek (No. 4), Maria Sakkari (No. 6) and Paula Badosa (No. 7). However, former World No. 1 Simona Halep participated in an All-Romanian showdown on Stadium 1.

The 30-year-old Simona Halep secured a straight-set victory in one hour and 22 minutes. The 2015 Indian Wells title holder hit 12 winners and broke Cirstea five times. It is her third victory this week after interesting matches against Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia and American Coco Gauff. "I really enjoy playing here, it’s like home," Halep said.

"Every time, I try to play my best tennis here because I like the conditions. Definitely, today was not an easy match. It’s always tough to play against a Romanian, but I tried to treat this match like a normal match. So, I did that pretty well."

Simona Halep further added "I think I played super good in the first set. The second set I started to miss a little bit. But in the big picture, it was a great match and I'm super pleased with the victory."

Although she was stressed out, the Romanian held her ground.

 "I feel happy that slowly I find my rhythm. I find the joy being on court, competing, and also fighting for every point I play," she chirped.

Halep's next opponent is No. 79 Petra Martic of Croatia. It'll be their fourth meeting succeeding a record of two wins for Halep.