Paula Badosa, the reigning BNP Paribas Open champion, took in some tennis last Friday and weighed in on an “insane” match. No.122-ranked Harriet Dart, a 25-year-old qualifier from Great Britain, stunned No.12 seed Elina Svitolina.

“She played like Top 10 level,” Badosa marveled. “In WTA [it] happens a lot. So anything can happen. Every match is very tough. You have to be prepared.”

No.1-ranked Ashleigh Barty and No.2 Barbora Krejcikova didn’t play and No.3 Sabalenka, No.8 Karolina Pliskova and No.9 Garbine Muguruza all lost their first match. No.10 Ons Jabeur, four-time major champion Naomi Osaka and 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko lost their second.

Tuesday's Round of 16 matchups:

  • No.3 Iga Swiatek vs. No.15 Angelique Kerber
  • No.5 Paula Badosa vs. No.18 Leylah Fernandez
  • No.6 Maria Sakkari vs. Daria Saville
  • No.17 Elena Rybakina vs. No.31 Viktorija Golubic
  • No.21 Veronika Kudermetova vs. No.30 Marketa Vondrousova
  • No.24 Simona Halep vs. No.26 Sorana Cirstea
  • No.25 Madison Keys vs. Harriet Dart 
  • No.28 Liudmila Samsonova vs. Petra Martic 

This, of course, creates marvelous opportunities for Dart, Viktorija Golubic (who beat Jasmine Paolini, who beat Sabalenka), the 409th-ranked Daria Saville and the rest of the field. Iga Swiatek, Badosa and Maria Sakkari are the only Top 10 players to find themselves still alive in the Sweet 16.

Don’t take your eyes off this tournament; things turn on a dime. Badosa, for one, is in favor of maintaining the status quo.

“I wish it was like that,” she said, “where I can have bye until the final.”

Indian Wells: Scores | Draw | Order of play 

Instead, she faces Leylah Fernandez later Tuesday for a spot in the quarterfinals.

It was only 26 months ago that they met for the first (and only) time, in the first round of qualifying in Auckland, New Zealand. Badosa, then 22, was ranked No.95; Fernandez, 17, was at No.209.

Badosa won 7-5, 7-6 (3) and collected 10 rankings points and $940 but would lose in the second round to American Usue Maitane Arconada. Fernandez got one point and $800. Now, they are Nos.7 and No.21 in the world.

Monday's results:

“I remember we were both playing really well, serving well,” Fernandez said. “It was a close match. I think it’s going to be as exciting as the last one.”

Here are five more things to look for in the second week:

A zesty all-Romanian tangle

Here is a fun fact: Simona Halep has won her past 18 matches against fellow Romanians. The last one to beat her – Sorana Cirstea – is her Tuesday opponent. That came nearly a dozen years ago in Cincinnati qualifying.

Halep’s overall record against Romanians at all pro levels is 34-4 – and Cirstea is responsible for two of those losses. The two have practiced recently, but that’s not much to go on.

Jimmie48/WTA

“It’s going to be a big challenge for me,” Halep said. “Of course, it’s going to be a tough one. She’s a great player.”

Halep has beaten Ekaterina Alexandrova and Coco Gauff, while Cirstea got past Ajla Tomljanovic and Anna Kalinskya.

A rare (but still possible) repeat?

Badosa scored her signature career title only six months ago at Indian Wells. She’s clearly playing with confidence, advancing Monday into the round of 16 after defeating Sara Sorribes Tormo 7-6 (4), 6-1.

“Confidence is very tough to get and very easy to lose it,” Badosa said earlier in the tournament. “To be honest, after [losing two of three matches in] Dubai and Doha, I wasn’t happy about that.

“For me it’s very important to go match by match. For me, every match gives me confidence again.

The only woman to repeat at Indian Wells? Martina Navratilova, in 1990-91.

“Look,” Navratilova said of Badosa before the event began, “I love everything about her. I love her attitude, her mindset. She’ll be pumped to get back there so early – you usually don’t get to defend your title five months later. She’ll be brimming with confidence.”

The return of Keys to the game

She’s 27 now, a little older and clearly more than a little wiser.

As 2022 has unfurled, Madison Keys has looked like vintage Madison Keys. That lethal forehand, the untouchable serve – she has 103 already, to lead all Hologic WTA Tour players. But folded into that mix has been something different: a greater margin (i.e., more topspin) built into the degree of difficulty.

When the No. 25-seeded Keys defeated Alison Riske 7-6 (4), 6-1, she converted each of the five break points offered. And Riske was coming off an upset of No.8 Garbine Muguruza. Keys is already 13-4 this young season. Last year, by contrast, she managed to play only 26 matches.

She’ll be a favorite versus qualifier Dart, the longest shot left.

“I mean, at this point she’s won almost a tournament worth of matches,” Keys said. “I think she’s going to be really confident. Just doing whatever she can to win, has no pressure.

“Luckily, I sent my coach [Georgi Rumenov] out to watch her match today so he can give me a game plan.”

The continuing education of Iga Swiatek

It wasn’t long ago that losing the first set was almost always a deal-breaker for Swiatek. In 2020 and 2021, she was a combined 4-14 when dropping the first set – and in 13 of those 14 losses she dropped the second set as well.

This year, at the age of 20, she’s 4-2 after dropping that first set. It happened in back-to-back matches at the Australian Open, against Cirstea and Kaia Kanepi, and she rallied to win and advanced to the semifinal. It’s been more of the same at Indian Wells, when Swiatek survived three-set matches with Anhelina Kalinina and Clara Tauson.

Swiatek readily attributes this newfound survival instinct to sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz.

“Mentally, I feel that I have more skills right now to just stay calm and think about solutions,” Swiatek told reporters. “Before, I struggled with emotions a little bit and sometimes I wasn’t choosing the right path to change something.

“After I lost the first set, I wanted to be like more pumped up and have more energy and whatever, but right now it’s like more focused and, yeah, it’s easier for me to find solutions. Right now it is much, much clearer for me.”

Maria Sakkari, serving ‘em up

She’s listed at only 5-foot-8, but in today’s WTA Sakkari finds herself at a distinct disadvantage.

“Tennis has changed,” she told reporters. “There are so many girls serving well that in order for you to stay on top the level you have to have a good serve. For me was something that I really had to work on different ways and let’s say [Karolina] Pliskova or Petra [Kvitova] or players like Paula [Badosa], that they’re a lot taller than me.”

A new backhand, a steadier serve and a fresh outlook for Daria Saville at Indian Wells

In Monday’s decisive 6-3, 6-0 victory over Kvitova, Sakkari won 24 of 25 first-serve points, stroked five aces and 0 double faults.

“It’s just that there are couple of things technically that if I do well, then I know that my serve can be very good, and I think today I was just focusing on these two things,” Sakkari said, but declined to be more specific. “I think I would consider myself one of the best ones from the baseline, but I had to step it up, and I had to find different ways of winning points.”

Sakkari faces Saville on Tuesday.