Ruzic continues rise with Zheng win in Indian Wells; Kartal, Krueger score upsets too

Rising Croatian Antonia Ruzic continued her strong start to 2026 with a 6-4, 7-5 upset over former World No. 4 Zheng Qinwen at the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday -- surging into the third round in her tournament debut.

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The 23-year-old Ruzic edged Zheng in 1 hour and 54 minutes by playing her best when it mattered. Both players had nine break-point chances in the contest, but Ruzic won four to Zheng's two. She erased an early break deficit at 3-2 to win the first set, and in the second, regrouped after Zheng won three straight games to knot the score from 5-2 behind.

The win for Ruzic against the 2024 Olympic champion is her eighth career Top 20 win -- a total that's doubled since January. Up next for her is another such player in the form of No. 13 seed and Doha champion Karolina Muchova.

But Ruzic wasn't the only unseeded player to make a splash against a seed on Saturday. American Ashlyn Krueger and Brit Sonay Kartal also scored upset wins, against No. 19 seed Liudmila Samsonova and No. 20 seed Emma Navarro, respectively.

The 21-year-old, a recent semifinalist in Austin, made it consecutive tournaments at which she's won at least two matches by coming from a 6-3, 5-3 deficit to beat Samsonova 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. The World No. 82 hammered 11 aces against Samsonova, and won six straight games en route to taking a lead she'd never relinquish in the decider.

Prior to her final-four effort in Texas, Krueger hadn't won back-to-back matches since last year's Miami Open. Samsonova, meanwhile, has now lost six straight three-set matches this year.

Elsewhere, former Top 10 player Navarro dropped to 4-8 this year after losing to Kartal 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(2), in 2 hours and 34 minutes. Navarro twice served for the win in the final set, at 5-4 and 6-5, and buried a forehand into the net on match point in the 12th game. Two points later, she dropped serve, and lost five straight points after opening the deciding tiebreak with a mini-break.