Indian Wells: Sunay Kartal stuns Madison Keys in comeback win

Kartal said she will prioritize her back recovery before facing Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, the defending Australian Open champion, in the round of 16.

“He-she [the back] “It was a very big obstacle,” Kartal added.

“I didn’t really train yesterday, so I did as much recovery as I could, so I think now it’s just about recovering and doing the exact same thing to get back on the field in the next couple of days.”

Kartal was not the only player who caused a surprise on Monday with his comeback win.

Czech Katerina Siniakova, ranked 44th in the world, defeated the defending champion and Russian Mira Andreeva, ranked eighth, with a difficult victory 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 that lasted two hours and 48 minutes.

Meanwhile, third-seeded Rybakina qualified for the fourth round with a difficult victory over Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 6-4.

Iga Swiatek, ranked second in the world and the Wimbledon champion, defeated Greek Maria Sakkari, while American Jessica Pegula, seeded fifth, came back from a set down against Jelena Ostapenko to reach the round of 16.