Australia’s Talia Gibson has backed up from her impressive win over world no. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova to defeat world no. 17 Clara Tauson.
The Dane broke in the opening game of the match after Gibson pulled a forehand well wide.
After a long second game it was Tauson that was able to consolidate the break to lead 2-0.
At 1-3, 40-0 the match was delayed after a spectator needed treatment.
After around five minutes Gibson was serving again to close out the game.
The Dane was serving for the first set at 5-4. Tauson started with a double fault. After the Dane hit wide Gibson was at 0-30.
A well placed forehand from Gibson forced an error to give her two break points.
Tauson saved the first with a forehand winner, a shot into the net from Gibson and it was deuce.
Another double fault from Tauson proved to be costly as Gibson jumped on a service return and forced an error from her opponent.
Gibson was serving at 5-5, she held to go ahead for the first time in the set.
Tauson then held to love to send the first set into a tie-break.
The first mini-break came when Tauson missed a basic backhand, it was then 4-2 for Gibson.
A forehand winner from Gibson and the Australian was ahead 5-2. More errors from Tauson and the set was claimed by the qualifier.
At 0-15 in the second game, Gibson played a volley in a very casual manner, she missed and it was suddenly 0-30.
A double fault compounded the problem and Gibson was facing three break points. A couple of winners later and Gibson had held.
Gibson then had a break point in the third game, but was unable to convert. After a bit of a struggle the Dane would hold serve.
Of some concern for Tauson was how she was stretching out her back or side.
In the fourth game, again Gibson found herself in trouble on serve when she was down 0-30. An Ace got the Australian back to 15-30 before Tauson hit a winner to earn two break points.
The first came and went with Tauson missing a shot well long. Gibson then attacked on the next point to save another.
Things went back and forth, another break point for Tauson, but saved by Gibson. Eventually the Australian would hold and it was 2-2.
Tauson won the next game to love. During the change of ends Tauson complained about how she was given a time violation.
Tauson sends it to a deciding set
In the tenth game Gibson again found herself falling behind, this time it was 0-40. She was not able to recover and Tauson took the second set with a shot into the net from Gibson.
Gibson earned a break point in the seventh game after hitting a backhand winner. It was converted when Tauson hit her forehand into the net.
The Australian then had a comfortable service hold to move to a 5-3 lead.
Tauson would hold to love, including serving her 28th Ace of the match. The pressure was now on Gibson
A good one-two punch on the first point saw Gibson hit a forehand winner to win the first point. Another first serve helped set up the point for a volley winner and 30-0.
Another first serve and taking control of the point saw Gibson smash a winner to bring up 3 match points.
Finally a missed first serve, but a well placed second serve forced an error from Tauson and Gibson was into the fourth round.
The win saw Gibson pull off back-to-back top-20 victories. The match lasted two hours and 35 minutes.
Paolini prevents an all-Australian fourth round at Indian Wells
Ajla Tomljanovic didn’t make the most of her opportunities as she went down to the 7th seed Jasmine Paolini. The final score was 7-5, 5-7, 6-1.
Tomljanovic had lead the Italian 4-2 in the first set and was up 4-1 in the second, but Paolini would fight back.
Gibson will next face the Italian in the fourth round of a WTA 1000 event, a first for the Australian.
For Gibson, she has really grabbed this opportunity to move inside the top-100 as she sits at no. 85 on the live rankings. With how she is playing in tennis paradise a win over Paolini is not too far fetched.