INDIAN WELLS — How\u2019s this for a loaded second-round Saturday at the BNP Paribas Open? The winners of the three biggest titles so far on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz are all in action:<\/p>\n
Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina versus Hailey Baptiste.
\nDubai 1000 winner Jessica Pegula versus wild card Donna Vekic.
\nDoha 1000 titlist Karolina Muchova versus Anna Bondar.<\/p>\n
Throw in three 500-level winners — Iga Swiatek and Poland at the United Cup, Mirra Andreeva in Adelaide and last week\u2019s Merida champion Cristina Bucsa — and you have a truly stellar dance card with the 16 seeds from the bottom half of the draw playing their first matches.<\/p>\n
Rybakina, the 2023 champion here, calls these desert conditions \u201cquite slow,\u201d but she\u2019s found a way to compile an 11-3 record in Tennis Paradise. Her tour-leading 101 aces will always make her a threat.<\/p>\n
\u201cRallies a little bit longer,\u201d Rybakina said. \u201cNot easy to get these short points, free points. So you need to work for each point.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other words, patience is a virtue. Sorry, but we can\u2019t wait for Saturday. Here are a few more compelling storylines:<\/p>\n
Swiatek looks for a reset<\/p>\n
While Rybakina prefers her surfaces lightning quick, No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek loves the pace of play on these courts, which give her a little more time to maneuver. She\u2019s seeking her third BNP Paribas Open title in five years and owns a gaudy 22-3 record here — a winning percentage of .880, second only to Steffi Graf\u2019s 17-2, .895.<\/p>\n
Swiatek meets qualifier Kayla Day, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Francesca Jones in the first round. They have never played. Swiatek has won 32 straight opening matches in WTA 1000s and a staggering 72 straight in all WTA encounters.<\/p>\n
This could be just the thing to get Swiatek, 9-4 so far this year, going.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure, the results haven’t been what I would wish for, because most of the tournaments I lost somewhere around quarterfinals,\u201d Swiatek said. \u201cI’m not putting too much pressure on myself, and I feel like I can really lower the expectations and just focus on the work and see how it’s going to go.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Andreeva eyes a rare repeat<\/p>\n
Mirra Andreeva is your defending champion after becoming the third youngest Indian Wells winner since Martina Hingis (1998) and Serena Williams (1999). News flash: Andreeva, the No. 8 seed, is still only 18 years old.<\/p>\n
Last year, Andreeva won back-to-back 1000 events in Dubai and Indian Wells. A few weeks ago in Dubai, she said, she didn\u2019t feel pressure to repeat — but, rather, excitement.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere is the same thing,\u201d Andreeva said. \u201cI’m just so excited to be here as a defending champion, see my photos almost everywhere in every corner.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the first time, Andreeva faces Solana Sierra, a fierce 7-5, 7-5 winner over Austin Open champion Peyton Stearns. Andreeva is looking to become only the second woman to repeat here, after Martina Navratilova in 1990-91.<\/p>\n
30-something sensations<\/p>\n
They are, against great odds, playing the best tennis of their lives.<\/p>\n
No. 5 seed Jessica Pegula, 32, is a robust 13-2 after winning Dubai. No. 9 Elina Svitolina, 31, is a smoking 15-3 with a title in Auckland and a semifinal run in Melbourne. Those 15 match-wins lead all WTA Tour players.<\/p>\n
Pegula holds a 2-0 head-to-head advantage over wild card Donna Vekic (who turns 30 in June) and is trying to reach her eighth consecutive semifinal.<\/p>\n
Svitolina takes on Laura Siegemund, who was a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 first-round winner over Petra Marcinko. Siegemund celebrated her 38th\u00a0birthday on Wednesday. Svitolina, who won their only previous match, will be playing her 29th\u00a0main-draw match here, second only to Venus Williams\u2019 30.<\/p>\n
An unqualified success<\/p>\n
Six bottom-half qualifiers lined up on Thursday — and four of them advanced to the second round against higher-ranked opponents.<\/p>\n
Taylor Townsend, a mom who turns 30 next month, ought to be tired after reaching the singles and doubles finals last week in Austin. Or after winning two qualifying matches and her first-rounder over Marie Bouzkova.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel really great, actually,\u201d Townsend said afterward.<\/p>\n
Townsend, who was ranked No. 119 going into Austin, is back in the Top 100 and a win over No. 28 Marta Kostyuk would send her inside the Top 75.<\/p>\n
Diane Parry, who prevailed in a three-setter over venerable Venus Williams, faces No. 15 Madison Keys. Storm Hunter, who came back to defeat Magdalena Frech 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, meets No. 12 Belinda Bencic.<\/p>\n
BNP Paribas Open \u2014 Order of Play
Saturday, March 7<\/p>\n
Stadium 1<\/p>\n
Start: 11:00 a.m.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Hailey Baptiste vs. [3] Elena Rybakina<\/p>\n
Not before 1:00 p.m.
\u2022 [3] Novak Djokovic vs. Kamil Majchrzak
\u2022 [1] Carlos Alcaraz vs. Grigor Dimitrov<\/p>\n
Not before 6:00 p.m.
\u2022 [5] Jessica Pegula vs. Donna Vekic
\u2022 [11] Daniil Medvedev vs. Alejandro Tabilo<\/p>\n
Stadium 2<\/p>\n
Start: 11:00 a.m.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Roberto Bautista Agut vs. [14] Jack Draper<\/p>\n
Not before 1:00 p.m.
\u2022 Kayla Day vs. [2] Iga Swiatek
\u2022 [8] Mirra Andreeva vs. Solana Sierra<\/p>\n
Not before 6:00 p.m.
\u2022 Jacob Fearnley vs. [7] Taylor Fritz<\/p>\n
Not before 8:00 p.m.
\u2022 Laura Siegemund vs. [9] Elina Svitolina<\/p>\n
Stadium 3<\/p>\n
Start: 11:00 a.m.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Alexander Shevchenko vs. [13] Casper Ruud
\u2022 [16] Karen Khachanov vs. Joao Fonseca
\u2022 Sebastian Korda vs. [6] Alex de Minaur
\u2022 [15] Madison Keys vs. Diane Parry
\u2022 [28] Marta Kostyuk vs. Taylor Townsend<\/p>\n
Stadium 4<\/p>\n
Start: 11:00 a.m.<\/p>\n
\u2022 [32] Maria Sakkari vs. Lilli Tagger
\u2022 Sonay Kartal vs. [20] Emma Navarro
\u2022 Katerina Siniakova vs. [27] Leylah Fernandez<\/p>\n
Not before 3:00 p.m.
\u2022 [10] Alexander Bublik vs. [LL] Vit Kopriva
\u2022 [32] Ugo Humbert vs. Alex Michelsen<\/p>\n
Stadium 5<\/p>\n
Start: 11:00 a.m.<\/p>\n
\u2022 [19] Francisco Cerundolo vs. [Q] Benjamin Bonzi
\u2022 [24] Valentin Vacherot vs. Nuno Borges
\u2022 Juan Manuel Cerundolo vs. [26] Arthur Rinderknech
\u2022 [Q] Rinky Hijikata vs. [20] Luciano Darderi<\/p>\n
Stadium 6<\/p>\n
Start: 11:00 a.m.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Aleksandar Kovacevic vs. [31] Corentin Moutet
\u2022 [17] Andrey Rublev vs. Gabriel Diallo
\u2022 [27] Cameron Norrie vs. [Q] Mackenzie McDonald
\u2022 Alexandra Eala \/ Iva Jovic vs. Hailey Baptiste \/ Jelena Ostapenko<\/p>\n
Not before 5:00 p.m.
\u2022 Sebastian Baez vs. [22] Jiri Lehecka<\/p>\n
Stadium 7<\/p>\n
Start: 11:00 a.m.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Storm Hunter vs. [12] Belinda Bencic
\u2022 Katie Volynets vs. [26] Jelena Ostapenko
\u2022 Storm Hunter \/ Maya Joint vs. [8] Ellen Perez \/ Demi Schuurs
\u2022 [22] Elise Mertens vs. Cristina Bucsa<\/p>\n
Stadium 9<\/p>\n
Start: 11:00 a.m.<\/p>\n
\u2022 [13] Karolina Muchova vs. Anna Bondar
\u2022 [19] Liudmila Samsonova vs. Ashlyn Krueger<\/p>\n
Not before 3:00 p.m.
\u2022 Antonia Ruzic vs. [24] Qinwen Zheng
\u2022 Ingrid Neel \/ Peyton Stearns vs. Miyu Kato \/ Fanny Stollar
\u2022 Ulrikke Eikeri \/ Xinyu Jiang vs. [2] Gabriela Dabrowski \/ Luisa Stefani<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIAN WELLS — How\u2019s this for a loaded second-round Saturday at the BNP Paribas Open? The winners of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[99,428,1959],"class_list":["post-509419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-text"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}