Sad twist after Daria Saville's outfit sparks frenzy at Indian Wells

Daria Saville has been forced to retire hurt at Indian Wells amid a powerful show of support for Ukraine - wearing a blue and yellow outfit despite being born in Russia.

Saville's giant-killing run at Indian Wells continued on Monday with victory over Elise Mertens, propelling her into the round of 16 at the WTA 1000 event for the first time.

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The Aussie qualifier battled past 20th-seeded Mertens 6-3 4-6 6-2 in 2 hours and 55 minutes to back up her victory over ninth seed Ons Jabeur in the previous round.

Her win over Jabeur was her first over a top-10 opponent since 2018 and will see her rocket up the WTA rankings following a number of years in the wilderness.

Amidst her incredible run, Saville has been making a telling political statement against her country of birth.

Despite being born in Russia before switching allegiances to Australia, Saville has been wearing blue and yellow at Indian Wells in a show of support for Ukraine.

“It’s very terrible what’s happening over there,” Saville said in February.

“It’s close to my heart as well. My mother-in-law (Natalia) and father-in-law (Alexey) are both in Russia right now, in Moscow, and just speaking to them the last few days, she’s very worried and concerned.

“Obviously, that hits home with me. I just hope they resolve it, basically, like everyone does."

Daria Saville retires hurt in Indian Wells fourth round

Saville's second-straight upset continued a superb comeback season for the former World No.20, who has battled an achilles injury in recent seasons that eventually required surgery.

While the Russia-born Australian started 2022 off slowly, she has found some form on her travels.

Last month in Mexico she defeated Emma Raducanu in the longest match of the WTA season when the top seed retired after a more than three-hour battle.

Saville told the WTA website a more defensive approach, which better suits her game, has changed her fortunes.

"I was trying to hold the baseline and I don't like that. I'm way too rushed, I don't have time," she said.

"The reason why we did that was because of my achilles.

"We thought if I'm more aggressive; hopefully, I'll run less, but it just doesn't work for me. I didn't like it."

Starting the tournament ranked 409th, Saville will soar up the rankings despite retiring hurt against World No.6 Maria Sakkari on Tuesday.

Saville was forced to withdraw at 1-4 in the first set after aggravating a left thigh injury she suffered earlier in the tournament.

Sakkari set up the clash with Saville after making light work of Petra Kvitova 6-3 6-0 in their third-round match on Monday.

Sakkari won all of her first-serve points in the first set and dropped just one in the second, as Kvitova struggled with her serve, producing five double-faults across the 66-minute affair in California.

It is the first time that Sakkari has reached the quarter-finals at tennis' unofficial fifth major.

with AAP

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