The 97th-ranked Rybarikova, who eliminated 31st seed Daria Gavrilova in her previous match, got by the powerful Bencic 6-4 3-6 6-3 while Czech Karolina Pliskova dumped former Serbian world number one Ivanovic 6-2 6-0 in a fleeting 49 minutes.

After an uneven start at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, 18th seed Pliskova’s game clicked into gear in spectacular fashion, reeling off 10 consecutive games to close out her one-sided victory.

Ivanovic entered the tournament fresh off a run to the quarter-finals and semi-finals in Dubai and St. Petersburg, respectively, while Pliskova had suffered a couple of early exits in the Middle East.

Pliskova, perhaps, perked up in seeing Ivanovic across the net. She had won all three of her previous encounters with Ivanovic, including earlier this year in Sydney.

“We’ve played a few times already and I’ve always won. But I think I played really good tennis today and I’m happy that I made (the next round) so fast,” said Pliskova, who powered in 18 winners.

Next up for Pliskova will be Britain’s Johanna Konta, who advanced 6-4 6-1 over Czech Denisa Allertova, who had conquered second-seeded Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber in the previous round.

Rybarikova advanced to another challenging test against U.S. Open runner-up Roberta Vinci.

The ninth-seeded Italian hurried past Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-1 6-3 to book her spot in the fourth round.

(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)

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The player-turned-commentator weighed in on the recent news that Sharapova tested positive for a newly banned drug meldonium that went into effect on January 1.

“Would be hard to believe that no one in her camp, the 25 or 30 people that work for her, or Maria herself had no idea that this happened,” McEnroe told the Tennis Channel Saturday during the BNP Paribas Open.

McEnroe noted that at the 1990 Australian Open he was ejected from a match after he did not realize a rule change that reduced a player’s default from four steps to just three.

“Nobody told me, so it is possible that Maria did not know that, though it’s extremely doubtful,” he said.

Sharapova, 28, is facing a suspension of up to four years by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and has already lost numerous sponsorships in the aftermath.

McEnroe joked that Sharapova should only be banned for two years because she says she did it unknowingly.

“Lift the ban, there’s no suspension if when she comes back she promises not to grunt,” McEnroe added in jest. “If you don’t grunt Maria, no suspension. If you continue to grunt, two years.”

(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)

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