Top seed Angelique Kerber notched a hard-fought win while two more higher-ranked seeds crashed out of the women’s draw at the ATP Indian Wells Masters in California on Monday.

Angelique Kerber, who is set to return as the World No 1 next week, had a tough game but she rallied to outlast France’s Pauline Parmentier 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 in the third round. In soaring tempratures, Kerber and Parmentier battled it out in long-drawn games, one of which lasted 11 minutes. At one point, the world number 62 was a break and 4-1 up in the third set, but the German rallied back in the marathon set. Kerber will play Russian Elena Vesnina next, who beat Hungary’s Timea Babos 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.

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Venus Williams staged another remarkable win after overcoming Jelena Jankovic two days back, comprehensively beating Lucie Safarova 6-4, 6-2. The 36-year-old won 75 percent of her first-serve points and all eight of her net points. Venus fittingly clinched the match thanks to a Safarova double fault, in a match where the Czech had 27 unforced errors to Williams’ nine.

But the biggest moment of the day was the upsets of the fourth and sixth seeds, Simona Halep and Agnieszka Radwanska.

Simona Halep, the 2015 champion at Indian Wells, was knocked out by 28th-seeded Kristina Mladenovic. The Romanian fourth seed, playing her first event in five weeks due to a knee injury, fell 3-6, 3-6. Meanwhile, France’s Mladenovic continued her good run in 2017, having already won her maiden WTA title at St Petersburg and reaching the Mexican Open final.

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Sixth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska was ousted by Peng Shuai 6-4, 6-4. The Chinese player, who has been sidetracked with several injuries, will play 12th seed Venus Williams next.

In the other big results, American ninth seed Madison Keys defeated Naomi Osaka 6-1, 6-4 in just under an hour in front of her coach Lindsay Davenport. She will be up against 13th seed Caroline Wozniacki next, who claimed a 6-3, 6-1 win over Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova.