Dayana Yastremska will take on Caroline Garcia on the first day of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, which returns to its traditional March slot for the first time since 2019.
Yastremska reached her first final since January 2020 in Lyon. It was a remarkable achievement, especially because one week before the French indoor tournament the 21-year-old Ukrainian player spent two nights sheltering in an underground carpark and fled the war in Ukraine by boat with her 15-year-old sister Ivanna.
Yastremska has been rewarded with a wildcard and will face Garcia, who reached the semifinals in Lyon last week. The French player has reached her first semifinal since Lausanne last July in July. Earlier this year the French player reached the quarter final in Sydney and beat Simona Halep in Doha.
Yastremska won her previous two head-to-head matches in 2019. The Ukrainian player fended off championships point to beat Garcia 6-4 5-7 7-6 (7-3) in the Strasbourg final and beat her French rival 6-1 6-1 in the first round in Beijing.
Sofia Kenin vs Beatriz Haddad Maia
Sofia Kenin will face Beatriz Haddad Maia in another top match in the first day of the Californian tournament. Kenin won the Australian Open title in 2020 and reached the final at Roland Garros later that year. The US player was ranked one year ago, but she has fallen to world number 130 after being sidelined by injury and illness after Wimbledon last year. Kenin has lost five consecutive matches since the quarter finals in Sydney, including two first round defeats against Madison Keys at the Australian Open and Jelena Ostapenko in Dubai.
Haddad Maia reached the Monterrey semifinals last week. The Brazilian leads 2-0 in her previous two head-to-head matches against Kenin. The winner of this match will face Clara Tauson.
Zheng Quinwen vs. Vera Zvonareva
Zheng Quinwen will face Vera Zvonareva. The Chinese 19-year-old player moved up to world number 74 after taking eventual champion Leylah Fernandez to a third-set tie-break in the Monterrey second round last week.
Zheng beat Zvonareva 5-7 6-3 6-4 at Melbourne Summer 1 en route to her first semifinal.
The winner of the match between Zheng and Zvonareva will take on 2019 Indian Wells semifinalist Angelique Kerber.
Robin Montgomery vs. Kaia Kanepi
US 17-year-old player Robin Montgomery will face 36-year-old Estonian veteran Kaia Kanepi, the oldest player in the top 100. Montgomery won the US Open Junior singles and doubles titles and will be chasing her first main draw win. Kanepi beat Aryna Sabalenka en route to reaching her first quarter final at the Australian Open. The winner of this match will face Belinda Bencic in the second round.
