Tennis News

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – The BNP Paribas Open gets underway on Wednesday, with an in-form Heather Watson and a couple of Americans on the comeback trail in action.

Wednesday, First Round

Stadium 1
[WC] Heather Watson (GBR #53) vs. Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ #NR)
Head-to-head: Watson leads 1-0
Unsurprisingly, Johanna Konta has dominated British tennis in the opening months of 2016. Last week, though, Heather Watson moved out of the shadows to lift the third WTA title of her career, at the Abierto Monterrey Afirme. Most impressive was the manner of her victory in México, taking the initiative to defeat Caroline Wozniacki, Caroline Garcia and then Kirsten Flipkens in a high-quality final.

Next stop is Indian Wells and an unfamiliar foe. Galina Voskoboeva missed the best part of two years recovering from a serious foot injury, making her return at an ITF event in February. The Kazakhstani has completed just a handful of matches since then and is using her protected ranking of No.72 to step up her competition in the desert. Watson won her only previous meeting against the Kazakhstani, an extremely tight three-set battle three years ago in Memphis, and in light of recent accomplishments will expect to repeat the result.

[Q] Taylor Townsend (USA #379) vs. Vania King (USA #202)
Head-to-head: Townsend leads 1-0
Two years ago, Taylor Townsend looked ready to deliver on her boundless potential, reaching the third round of the French Open and breaking into the Top 100. But since then, things have not exactly gone to plan for the former junior No.1, injury, coaching reshuffles and a loss of form sending her tumbling down the rankings.

Such has been Townsend’s fall, she needed to win eight matches to earn a spot in the main draw. Having negotiated her way through that minefield, the American, who does not turn 20 until later this spring, meets Vania King. Like Townsend, King is also on the comeback trail, a productive spell on the ITF Circuit leaving her on the cusp of the Top 200. The match is be third on Stadium 1 and with defending champion Simona Halep awaiting in the second round the winner is likely to be rewarded with another prime time slot.

Around the grounds…
Dominika Cibulkova attempts to set up a second-round blockbuster against Agnieszka Radwanska when she takes on Katerina Siniakova. Also on court are Barbora Strycova and CoCo Vandeweghe, who face Kiki Bertens and Aliaksandra Sasnovich, respectively. 

Last summer, Johanna Konta embarked on a 16-match winning run, which began at a lowly ITF Circuit event in Granby, Canada, and ended in last 16 of the US Open.

This proved to be the catalyst for a rapid ascent up the tennis ladder, a maiden WTA title, in Stanford, and deep runs at the Australian Open, Beijing, Montréal, Eastbourne, Miami and Zhuhai securing Konta a year-end ranking inside the Top 10 – the first Briton to achieve the feat since Jo Durie in 1983.

It is a list of accomplishments that saw Konta deservedly pick up the WTA’s Most Improved Player Of The Year award. The 25-year-old, however, is no overnight success story.

“On paper I suppose it looks a lot different to how I experienced it, how my team experienced it; only because, although it may seem like a sudden rise, it was a lot of years of work put in. Years and years and years!” Konta told BT Sport’s David Law during her final event of the year, in Zhuhai. “So really I didn’t live through it as such a dramatic change.”

Watch the full interview above to hear Konta discuss her remarkable journey and what the future may hold in store.