Tennis Paradise is in full bloom at Indian Wells…
Women’s singles action kicked off with a bang on Day 1 of the BNP Paribas Open main draw, with several up and coming players producing stunning matches in their debuts. Scroll down for a recap of the early WTA action.
GET 2023 BNP PARIBAS OPEN TICKETSThe two youngest players in this year’s BNP Paribas Open women’s singles draw are up and running. They both just happen to be debutantes, and Czech…
17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova, fresh off her eye-opening run to the round of 16 at the Australian Open, scored a hard-fought win over Mayar Sherif, 0-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Under fierce fire from the Egyptian on Stadium 3, the World No. 53 rallied for a dramatic triumph on her Indian Wells main draw debut.
“I had my chances in the first set,” Fruhvirtova remarked after the match. “It could have been three-all instead of 0-6. I was trying to keep it in mind and I was thinking, new match, new beginning – just keep believing and fighting.”
Ranked 281 and a qualifying loser on her first trip to Tennis Paradise in 2022, Fruhvirtova is eager to keep steaming up the rankings.
“It’s definitely nice to look back at where I was one year ago compared to now, and to see some progress,” she said. “I think there’s still a long way to go for me. I just love playing here in USA. So I’m just enjoying every match I’m playing here in front of this crowd.”
Fruhvirtova’s fellow teen and compatriot, 18-year-old Linda Noskova, was also a winner on Wednesday. She took a less scenic route, hammering past Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu, 7-6(7), 6-1.
The 2021 French Open junior champion, who turns 19 in November, has also been rising rapidly up the rankings over the last year. Currently ranked 54, she was outside the Top 200 this time last year.
Noskova has had a sterling start to 2023, earning her first two career Top 10 wins to reach the final in Adelaide, and then reaching the quarterfinal in Lyon a few weeks later.
Noskova will face No.31-seeded American Amanda Anisimova in the second round, while Fruhvirtova will square off with 27th-seeded Anhelina Kalinina.
Back in 2020, Katie Volynets toppled Shelby Rogers to earn her maiden WTA win. On Wednesday it was 2021 BNP Paribas Open quarterfinalist Rogers who returned the favor, rocking past the 21-year-old pride of Walnut Creek, California, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
41st-ranked Rogers earns her 10th main draw victory at Indian Wells, and sets a second-round clash with seventh-seeded Maria Sakkari, last year’s runner-up.
“Two Americans, she definitely has a very bright future, and unfortunately only one of us could win today,” Rogers said on Stadium court after her hard-fought victory, which took two hours and 20 minutes. “She’s one of the nicest girls I’ve met on tour, and I look forward to seeing her more.”
A season that started with a quarterfinal in Hobart and a maiden WTA semifinal continues in earnest for 67th-ranked Chinese Wang Xinyu. She engineered her biggest win by ranking since 2021 on Stadium 2, taking out former World No. 12 Elise Mertens, 6-3, 6-1.
The triumph was Wang’s second Top 50 win in 19 tries, and her first since taking out then No.20-ranked Emma Raducanu at Linz in the fall of 2021.
The 21-year-old earns a date with No. 18 seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova on Friday.
GET 2023 BNP PARIBAS OPEN TICKETS
