Article content
Defending women’s champion Bianca Andreescu won a close 7-6 (2) 5-7 6-2 victory over American Alison Riske in her return to the Indian Wells tournament on Saturday.
Article content
Andreescu, who returned to the Southern California event for the first time since winning the title in 2019, was pushed to the limit by non-seeded Riske before the Canadian won the first-set tiebreaker.
Andreescu seemed to find his rhythm in the second set, but Riske saved two match points to force a decider.
Andreescu, world number 21, stood his ground to conclude the match, which lasted almost three hours, and will face Anett Kontaveit in the third round.
US Open champion Daniil Medvedev sealed a comfortable 6-4 6-2 victory over Mackenzie McDonald, while Diego Schwartzman saved two match points to outlast qualifier Maxime Cressy 6-2 3-6 7-5.
Canadian Vasek Pospisil was forced to retire in the first set against compatriot Denis Shapovalov and Norwegian sixth seed Casper Ruud did quick work on Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena 6-1 6-2.
Article content
Eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz broke Alexei Popyrin’s stubborn resistance to win 6-1 7-5 in hot, dry conditions, while world number five Andrey Rublev beat Carlos Taberner 6-3 6-4.
Czech top seeded Karolina Pliskova defeated Polish Magdalena Frech 7-5 6-2, and French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova recovered from a mid-game wobble to beat Zarina Diyas 6-4 3 -6 6-1.
American teenager Coco Gauff had a winning debut in the tournament after beating Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia 6-3 6-7 (2) 6-1.
Australian Ajla Tomljanovic secured the first upset of the day, rebounding from a rocky second set to send fifth-seeded Garbine Muguruza 6-3 1-6 6-3, while Greek sixth-seeded Maria Sakkari was defeated. 5-7 6-3 6- 2 of the Swiss Viktorija Golubic.
Reference-torontosun.com