Tennis News

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – The first day of WTA main draw action kicked off on Wednesday, and Dominika Cibulkova was among the day’s winners – she will take on No.3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska’s first opponent in the second round.

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“We’ve played so many times against each other,” Cibulkova said in her post-match interview. “[Radwanska] is a great opponent so I hope it’s gonna be a good match.”

The Slovak found her groove early on to cruise against Czech youngster Katerina Siniakova, 6-2, 6-0. She broke serve right away and only lost just one point in the first three games. Though Siniakova had the advantage of being familiar with the surface and the Indian Wells atmosphere – she had fought through two rounds of qualifying – Cibulkova didn’t allow her any way into the match.

Cibulkova needed exactly one hour to put away the 19-year-old and book the second round clash against Radwanska, who received a first round bye.

'Thanks for telling me [I play Aga next],' jokes @Cibulkova. 'I never look at the draw!' https://t.co/kRsZ9udpkC pic.twitter.com/09nipFLNOp

— TennisTV (@TennisTV) March 10, 2016

Also through to the second round is Heather Watson, whose match fitness was tested to the limit by Galina Voskoboeva. Fresh from winning the title at the Abierto Monterrey Afirme on Sunday, Watson had to weather a second-set surge from the Kazakhstani to advance 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-1.

While Voskoboeva faltered, a pair of other Kazakhstani women kept the blue and gold flag flying high at Indian Wells as Yaroslava Shvedova survived an all-out assault from qualifier Kristyna Pliskova and Yulia Putintseva picked off Shuai Peng 6-0, 6-1.

It was a tough day at the office for the Americans, though – Lucie Hradecka sent off Alison Riske 7-6(4), 6-2, Vania King ousted her countrywoman Taylor Townsend 6-2, 6-3 and Carina Witthoeft dismissed Irina Falconi 6-4, 6-4. But CoCo Vandeweghe, who feels right at home here in California, kept American hopes alive as she fought off Kiki Bertens 6-4, 6-4.

Eugenie Bouchard and Monica Puig will bid for first-round victories on Wednesday at the Crandon Park Tennis Center. We preview the must-see Miami Open matchups right here at wtatennis.com.

Wednesday

First round

Monica Puig (PUR #40) vs. Sorana Cirstea (ROU #65)
Head-to-head: Cirstea leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Puig is bidding for her 10^th tour-level win of the season on Wednesday.

Monica Puig will have the chance to take her solid 2017 to the next level at the Miami Open, and that challenge begins with a first-round matchup with Romania’s Sorana Cirstea. It will not be an easy task as Cirstea has defeated Puig in their lone meeting, but the Romanian has now lost five straight since reaching the round of 16 at the Australian Open and she has gone 3-8 lifetime at Miami with losses in her last three matches.

Puig has a semifinal (Doha) and a quarterfinal (Acapulco) to her name this season, but the Puerto Rican is still searching for a follow-through to her breakout Gold Medal performance at last year’s Olympics. Could it happen this year in Miami, where Puig has only won two previous matches but will no doubt receive a warm reception from her fans?

Pick: Puig in three

Eugenie Bouchard (CAN #56) vs. [WC] Ashleigh Barty (AUS #91)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Ashleigh Barty is the only player in 2017 to win the singles and doubles title at the same event, doing so at Kuala Lumpur.

Eugenie Bouchard had a relatively promising start to 2017 that saw her reach a semifinal at Sydney and advance to the third round at the Australian Open. But since then the Canadian has lost three straight. She’ll look to get her season on track again when she meets one of the surprising stories of 2017 in Australia’s Ashleigh Barty.

Barty has already doubled her 2016 tour-level win total and she claimed her first career title at Kuala Lumpur where she qualified before reeling off five straight victories. Bouchard will have her hands full with the upwardly mobile Aussie and she’ll have to be sharp with her passing game, as she’ll be contending with frequent forays to the net from Barty.

Pick: Bouchard in three

Ajla Tomjlanovic (CRO #594) vs. CiCi Bellis (USA #55)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Bellis reached the third round on her Miami Open debut in 2015.

Ajla Tomljanovic made her inspiring return to tennis after a year on the sidelines due to a shoulder injury by defeating Eugenie Bouchard in her first match in over a year at Acapulco. Since then she has lost two in a row but the good news for the powerful 23-year-old is that she’s finally in good health again and ready to start improving her ranking and fulfilling her vast potential on tour. But Tomjlanovic will have to contend with one of the feistiest young players in the game to get a win in Miami when she faces 17-year-old CiCi Bellis, who reached the third round as a 15-year-old Wildcard here in 2015.

Bellis started her season late due to a lower body injury but the California native reached the quarterfinals at Dubai in her first event, notching her first career Top 10 win over Agnieszka Radwanska in the process. Is Tomljanovic ready to contend with the all-out intensity of Bellis, or will it be Bellis who notches another impressive win in this young season?

Pick: Bellis in three

Lucie Safarova (CZE #36) vs. Yanina Wickmayer (BEL #67)
Head-to-head: Safarova leads, 2-1
Key Stat: Safarova has gone 4-4 against players ranked outside the Top 50 at Miami.

Lucie Safarova will look to continue her climb back up the WTA rankings in a place that has given her significant trouble in recent years. The Czech has lost six of her last seven matches at the Miami Open and has never been beyond the third round in eleven career main draw appearances.

On Wednesday she’ll look to exact some revenge on the woman that knocked her out of last year’s draw, Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer. Safarova has already slipped by the Belgian once this year, defeating her in three sets at the Australian Open, but Wickmayer is a former quarterfinalist at Miami that also owns win over Kim Clijsters and Timea Bacsinszky at the event.

Pick: Safarova in two

By the Numbers:

1-4 – Eugenie’s lifetime record at Miami. The Canadian has lost four straight decisions here.

2016 – Though she fell in her first match last year, Lucie Safarova did claim the doubles title with Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

5 – Ashleigh Barty is one of five WTA players to have claimed a maiden title in 2017. Lauren Davis (Auckland), Katerina Siniakova (Shenzhen), Elise Mertens (Hobart) and Kristina Mladenovic (St. Petersburg) are the other four.

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – The seeds in the lower half of the draw will make their 2016 BNP Paribas debut on Saturday at Indian Wells, including 2016 Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber.

Saturday, Second Round

[2] Angelique Kerber (GER #2) vs. Denisa Allertova (CZE #64)
Head-to-head: first meeting
Key Stat: Allertova won her only previous match against a player in the Top 2, defeating Simona Halep in straight sets in the Guanghzhou quarterfinals last year.

Angelique Kerber is still flying high after winning her maiden Grand Slam title in Melbourne this winter, but is the feisty German ready to become one with the perpetual grind of the WTA tour again? As many first-time major winners have proved in the past, it’s not an easy task.

“The life changed of course a little bit, I had so many things to do when I went back to Germany,” Kerber told media during All-Access Hour on Wednesday. “A lot more people recognize me right now. But I think at the end I’m the same as I was before Australia. It’s still a great feeling but I need also time to prepare and go on court to practice and work hard like I did the last few months and years.”

Kerber’s opening challenge will be a first-time meeting with 23-year-old Czech Denisa Allertova. Though she’s only played 37 WTA-level matches, Allertova has impressively won two of her three contests against Top-10 opponents.

Pick: Kerber in three

[4] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP #4) vs. Christina McHale (USA # 62)
Head-to-head: Muguruza leads,1-0
Key Stat: Muguruza has a 20-10 win-loss record since reaching the Wimbledon final last year.

There have been ups and downs for the Spaniard since she reached the Wimbledon final last season, but it would be wrong to say that Garbiñe Muguruza has been plagued by inconsistency. If anything, she’s been slowed by physical ailments. After a nagging foot injury slowed her start to 2016, the hard-hitting World No.4 would like nothing more than to assert herself with a career-best run at Indian Wells.

She’ll start her quest in the desert with a second-round match-up with American Christina McHale. Muguruza took their first meeting in straight sets, but the New Jersey native, who defeated Caroline Garcia on Thursday, always proves to be a tough out on home soil.

Pick: Muguruza in two

[13] Victoria Azarenka (BLR #15) vs. Zarina Diyas (KAZ #87)
Head-to-head: first meeting
Key Stat: 2012 champion Azarenka is one of seven previous champions in this year’s draw.

It is still shocking when one considers that, before Brisbane this year, Victoria Azarenka had not won a WTA title in nearly three years. Injuries have reared their ugly head, curtailing the momentum of the two-time major champion on many occasions. And yet, there’s something so magical about Azarenka’s game when in full flight that it’s difficult not to expect her to step up, turn back the clock and roll through a tournament like she did in 2012 and 2013, when she won nine titles, including two majors.

Could March be the month that Azarenka proves to the world she’s top-notch again? The world No.13 will open her seventh appearance at the BNP Paribas Open with a second-round tilt versus Zarina Diyas. Once thought to be a rising star, Diyas has struggled to find her form, going 4-7 thus far in 2016.

Pick: Azarenka in two

[14] Ana Ivanovic (SRB #18) vs. Camila Giorgi (ITA #45)
Head-to-head: Ivanovic leads 1-0
Key Stat: 2008 champion Ivanovic has not been past the third round here since 2012.

In her tenth appearance at Indian Wells, former champion Ana Ivanovic will face a stern second-round challenge in the pugnacious Camila Giorgi of Italy. Ivanovic took the pair’s first meeting handily last autumn in Tokyo, but Giorgi has done some damage in her brief but entertaining Indian Wells career.

She took out Maria Sharapova in her debut in 2014 en route to the fourth round. Giorgi is always one of the most dangerous floaters in a draw, and Ivanovic will surely have her hands full with a player that has earned 16 wins in 37 against members of the Top 20.

Pick: Ivanovic in three

Around the grounds: Seventh-seeded Belinda Bencic will square off with American Lauren Davis for the second time. The Swiss won their first meeting in 2013 in straight sets. Surging Zhang Shuai, who has risen over 100 spots in the rankings since the end of last season, will meet 20th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki. Russians Daria Kasatkina and Margarita Gasparyan each won their Indian Wells debuts on Thursday and will look to reach the third round today. Eugenie Bouchard and Sloane Stephens will meet for the fourth time, and the first time since 2013 – Stephens holds the 2-1 lifetime edge.