Venus wins again; teen’s run ends

Venus Williams defeated Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 7-6 (8), 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday as the oldest woman in the draw. The 37-year-old was coming off a straight-set victory over younger sister Serena a night earlier.

“It was a quick turnaround from last night when it feels like ‘Hey, this is a final’ to ‘You’re only in the fourth round,’ ” Williams said.

Playing under cloudy skies in 80-degree heat in Indian Wells (Riverside County), Williams had her hands full with Sevastova, 27, who used drop shots, top spin and lobs to jerk Williams side to side.

After early losses in her first two tournaments of the year, Williams hasn’t dropped a set at Indian Wells, where in six appearances she has never reached the final.

Awaiting Williams in the quarterfinals is 27th-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, who beat American wild card Danielle Collins 6-2, 6-4.

American teenager Amanda Anisimova’s run of success ended in a 6-1, 7-6 (2) loss to No. 5 seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. Anisimova, a 16-year-old wild card, won her first three WTA Tour matches at Indian Wells, including against two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova, without dropping a set.

Ken Flach, who won four Grand Slam titles in men’s doubles and two in mixed doubles, died Monday at age 54. In a Facebook post, Flach’s widow, Christina, wrote that he “passed away after fighting pneumonia.” The American reached No. 1 in the men’s doubles rankings and paired with Robert Seguso to form one of the top teams of the 1980s, winning 28 titles and a 1988 gold medal together.