The BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells has officially started for the majority of the favorites. The No.1 seed and World No.1 Serena Williams played her first match since losing the Australian Open final to Angelique Kerber in January and convincingly advanced to the third round after dominating Laura Siegemund (No.79) by 6-2 6-1. Serena didn’t need her best tennis to sail through, but it seems the long pause taken after the disappointing loss in Melbourne worked well to recharge Williams’ batteries.
Serena’s match highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxx06-qb3qk
All eyes on Friday were however on Venus, who was returning to Indian Wells for the first time since 2001. Unbeaten with a 7-match winning streak, Venus was however overwhelmed and was easily edged in straight sets by Kurumi Nara (No.89) with the final score of 6-4 6-3. Williams was warmly welcomed back to Indian Wells, as the organizers played Jackson 5’s “I want you back” to welcome her back on court after 15 years. Venus entered the court smiling and waved at the crowd. Soon after though, she realized it wasn’t going to be an easy day at the office for her, as Nara played some of her best tennis to clinch her second career win against a top 20 player.
“It was enough of a fairy tale to come here and play. Sure a win would have been nice, but that means I have to come back and play next year” said Venus in her press conference after the match loss.
Here is Venus returning to Indian Wells:
Other Americans were in action on Friday in the Californian desert. Coco Vandeweghe followed her first round convincing win pulling out an upset and ousting 16th seed Svetlana Kuzetsova in straight sets, dominating the Russian with her serve and forehand to clinch the victory by 6-4 6-3. Madison Keys was ousted 6-3 6-3 by former college girl Nicole Gibbs.
Agnieszka Radanska (No.3) and Simona Halep (No.5) both made it to the third round. While the Pole had to fight hard three sets against former Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova winning by 6-3 3-6 7-5, Halep outplayed Vania King, winning by 6-1 6-1.
All WTA results for Friday in Indian Wells:
Johanna Larsson (SWE) d [29] Sabine Lisicki (GER)| 5 – 7 | 6 – 4 | 6 – 2
[Q] Nicole Gibbs (USA) d [23] Madison Keys (USA)| 6 – 3 | 6 – 3 |
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) d [11] Lucie Safarova (CZE)| 6 – 3 | 6 – 4 |
Coco Vandeweghe (USA) d [16] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)| 6 – 4 | 6 – 3 |
[8] Petra Kvitova (CZE) d Danka Kovinic (MNE)| 6 – 3 | 4 – 6 | 7 – 6 (5) |
[19] Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d Carina Witthoeft (GER)| 6 – 1 | 6 – 3 |
[32] Monica Niculescu (ROU) d [WC] Heather Watson (GBR)| 6 – 4 | 2 – 6 | 6 – 2 |
[3] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)| 6 – 3 | 3 – 6 | 7 – 5 |
Barbora Strycova (CZE) d [22] Andrea Petkovic (GER)| 5 – 7 | 6 – 4 | 7 – 5 |
[Q] Kurumi Nara (JPN) d [10] Venus Williams (USA)| 6 – 4 | 6 – 3 |
[5] Simona Halep (ROU) d Vania King (USA)| 6 – 1 | 6 – 1 |
[30] Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) d Lucie Hradecka (CZE)| 6 – 4 | 6 – 4 |
Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) d [27] Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)| 6 – 4 | 6 – 4 |
[1] Serena Williams (USA) d [Q] Laura Siegemund (GER)| 6 – 2 | 6 – 1 |
Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) d [15] Sara Errani (ITA)| 6 – 4 | 6 – 3 |
[Q] Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) d [24] Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)| 6 – 2 | 6 – 7 (7) | 6 – 4 |
