Heather Watson has extended her winning streak to six matches after fighting her way past Galina Voskoboeva 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-1.
Watson enters Indian Wells in good form after clinching her third WTA title at the Monterrey Open last week. The British No.2 endured a tough fight against an erratic Voskoboeva after being outplayed during the second set before regaining her dominance in the decider.
Despite her loss, it was an encouraging match for injury-plagued Voskoboeva. The former world No.42 returned to the tour in February this year after being out of action for 22 months due to a string in injuries, including stress fractures and a bruised bone in her foot.
During the two-and-a-half hour marathon, Watson won 62% of her first service points and converted 4/9 break points. The Brit spoke about her relief of winning the match during her on-court interview.
“It was very tough today. Galina’s coming back from injury and I thought she played very well today and really made me work for it, but when it was important I was able to bring out my best tennis and I was very happy with it today.” The world No.53 said.
In the second round, Watson will play Romanian 32nd seed Monica Niculescu. Watson has already beaten Nicuescu this year at the Hobart Open.
Dominika Cibulkova stomed into the last 64 in Indian Wells after crushing Czech qualifier Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 6-0. The 2014 Australian Open runner-up dominated proceedings, winning 68% of the points played during the match. The Slovakian will have a much tougher encounter in the second round where she will play third seed Agnieszka Radwanska. It will be the ninth time that the two players have met on the tour, Cibulkova currently trails the head-to-head 3-5.
“We’ve played so many times against each other,” Cibulkova said in her post-match interview.
“[Radwanska] is a great opponent so I hope it’s gonna be a good match.”
In other matches at the WTA Premier Mandatory event, Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck suffered a three sets loss to Kateryna Bondarenko, a player ranked 24 places below her. The 21-year-old is yet to progress beyond the second round at any tournament this year as she crashed out 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-2.
Danka Kovinic eased her way past American wildcard Samantha Crawford. The world No.51 required 90 minutes on the court to win 6-3, 6-4, to book a second round meeting with Petra Kvitova.
German qualifier Laura Siegemund has booked a second round showdown with world No. 1 Serena Williams. Siegemund was forced to come from a set down before battling her way past Irina-Camelia Begu 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. In January the world No.79 stunned Jelena Jankovic in the second round of the Australian Open to grab one of the biggest wins of her career.
There was also a trio of wins for the home players. Vania King won her all-American encounter with Taylor Townsend, 6-2, 6-3. Coco Vandeweghe produced a convincing 6-4, 6-4, triumph over Kiki Bertens. Finally, Nicole Gibbs raced past Alexandra Dulgheru, winning 6-1, 6-0.
