Ajla Tomljanovic from Croatia defeated American Hailey Baptiste, 6-2, 2-6 and 6-2 in the opening round of play at Wednesday’s BNP Paribas Open.
Ekaterina Alexandrova from Russia defeated American Elvina Kaliera by 4-6, 2/2, 7-6 (7), despite 18 double errors as the combined men’s/women’s event returned back to its March place after being interrupted by COVID-19.
When the pandemic decimated the world, the tournament was among the first to be cancelled. It was moved to October 2017 and only a few people were there.
Alison Riske defeated Caty McNally, 6-0, and 6-3 in an all American matchup.
Kaia Kanepi beat Robin Montgomery, an American 17-year-old, 6-3. Montgomery, the winner of the junior girls singles and doubles titles at 2021 U.S. Open was connected on 57% her first serves, but she had nine double faults.
American Claire Liu and Petra Martic were also first round winners.
The women’s draw will be missing two of the top players in the world — Ash Barty, Barbora Krejcikova. Barty stated that she is still not fully recovered from winning the Australian Open, while Krejcikova sustained an elbow injury.
Novak Djokovic stated that he won’t be able compete at Indian Wells and Miami because he isn’t vaccinated. He can’t travel to America.
Five-time desert champion, the five-time winner, tweeted that the Centers for Disease Control had “confirmed that the regulations won’t be changing so it won’t be possible to play in the U.S.”
