Garcia battles through at Indian Wells Open to set up Raducanu clash

Caroline Garcia reached the second round of the Indian Wells Open after coming through a gruelling encounter with Dayana Yastremska.

Garcia had gone three matches without a win against her Ukrainian opponent, who reached the final of last week's Lyon Open.

Although she squandered two match points in the second set, Garcia eventually prevailed 6-4 6-7 (8-10) 7-5 after nearly two and a half hours to set up a second-round clash with US Open champion Emma Raducanu.

Sofia Kenin's difficult start to the year continued as she suffered a straight-sets defeat to Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia.

The Australian Open champion and French Open runner-up two years ago, Kenin has now lost six matches in a row since reaching the quarter-finals in Adelaide back in January.

The 23-year-old, who has dropped to 130 in the world, threw in 11 double faults in her 6-3 7-5 defeat to Haddad Maia, who next meets 29th seed Clara Tauson.

Moving on Beatriz Haddad Maia fights past Sofia Kenin 6-3, 7-5 to reach the second round #IndianWells pic.twitter.com/ZvssgP3f6B

— BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 10, 2022

Ekaterina Alexandrova will face Simona Halep, the 2015 champion, in round two after coming through 4-6 6-2 7-6 (9-7) against 18-year-old American Elvina Kalieva.

There were also wins for Kaia Kanepi, Alison Riske and Harriet Dart, who next meets 12th seed Elina Svitolina.

World number 37 Jil Teichmann lost in straight sets to Danka Kovinic, Ann Li beat compatriot Madison Brengle in an all-American thriller, and wildcards Katie Volynets and Claire Liu also progressed.