Emma Raducanu through to last 16 in Indian Wells after passing Haddad Maia test

Emma Raducanu continued her impressive form as she came through a fun match against Beatriz Haddad Maia in the Palm Springs sunshine at Indian Wells.

The unseeded Brit reached the last-16 in the Californian desert for the first time as she battled past her toughest test of the week so far by taking out the Brazilian 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 in two hours and 19 minutes. The 20-year old was the quicker player to settle into the match, getting on top of the rallies early on and breaking the Haddad Maia serve to lead 3-0.

The Brazilian, who has ambitions of breaking into the WTA top ten, has enjoyed a strong 12 months on tour. But it was Raducanu who continued to dominate, serving well to set up a strong plus one shot and pushing Haddad Maia back behind the baseline.

Raducanu illustrated her dominance by breaking again and wrapped up a near flawless set of tennis with another forehand winner on her third set point.

Haddad Maia would have known she had to conjure up something different, having been outplayed in the opener, and showed her resolve by breaking Raducanu early in the second. Momentum had shifted towards the World No.13, as she taking the ball early and playing with a bit more swagger.

It was a different match now and the left-hander from Sao Paulo wasn’t missing much, showing the kind of form that took her to the Masters 1000 final in Toronto last year. She closed out an equally impressive second set with another break to level the match at a set a piece.

Raducanu took a long break before the decider and she returned with a bit more pace about her game again. She confidently fought off a break point in game four before setting up one of her own in the next after an amazing point.

No less than five times Raducanu had to hit an overhead smash to finally put Haddad Maia away, the Brazilian regaining her composure to hold serve and lead 3-2. But the former US Open champion wasn’t to be denied in the next Haddad Maia service game, taking the lead for the first time in the final set with a volley at the net.

It was now about whether or not she could fend off a late Brazilian challenge and she played some clutch tennis at 30-30 to lead 5-3. The best defence is sometimes to attack and Raducanu went into all out aggression mode and some relentless ball striking to set up two match points. They were saved by the girl from Brazil and she asked Raducanu to serve for the match.

And she answered that question posed alongside so many more as she won three matches in a row for the first time since her iconic US Open triumph after Haddad Maia found the net.