SIMONA, KAROLINA ADVANCE
Garbine first major shock at Indian Wells
WORLD No 1 Simona Halep and fifth seed Karolina Pliskova eased through their WTA Indian Wells openers on Friday but reigning Wimbledon champ Garbine Muguruza bit the dust in the California desert.
Simona beat Karolina’s sister Kristyna Pliskova 6-4, 6-4 while Karolina eased past IrinaCamelia Begu 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 to reach the third round of the combined WTA/ATP hardcourt tournament.
Garbine became the first major casualty of the event, suffering a shock 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 defeat to World No 100 Sachia Vickery.
“It slipped away a little bit from me,” said Garbine. “I’m going to learn a lot from this match. I’m going to watch it and I’m going to see what went wrong.”
Garbine, who was seeded third here, was named WTA player of the year last year after winning titles in Wimbledon and Cincinnati. The 24-year-old also reached No 1 in the world in September and was ranked third heading into Indian Wells.
This the Spaniard’s first loss to a player ranked in the 100s since she was beaten by Jana Cepelova (124) at Wimbledon in 2016.
Garbine had five double faults and had her serve broken five times in the two hour, 11 minute night match.
Crowd favourite Sachia posted her first career win over a top 10 player as she served masterfully and controlled the rallies with her ground strokes.
Sachia said the partisan crowd motivated her.
“The atmosphere really helped me even though I was feeling it a bit physically. I kept telling myself ‘just do your best’,” said the 22-year-old who is making her second appearance in Indian Wells.
Simona roared into the third round by overpowering Kristyna in straight sets.
The 26-year-old Romanian will meet US wildcard Caroline Dolehide who beat Dominika Cibulkova, of Slovakia, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
“I was ready to play. I was ready to work and ready to fight,” Simona said. “It wasn’t an easy match. But I am really happy I won my first match here and I get a chance to play again.”
Simona and Caroline Wozniacki have been taking turns at No 1 this year.
Denmark’s Caroline took the World No 1 ranking after beating Simona in three sets in the Australian Open final, but Simona reclaimed it from her just prior to Indian Wells.
Simona won three out of the final four games in the second set, claiming victory when her opponent sailed a forehand long on the first match point.
Elsewhere, ninth seeded Petra Kvitova won her 14th straight match to equal the longest winning streak of her career by outlasting Yulia Putintseva 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.
Rising star Jelena Ostapenko battled her way into the third round by outlasting Swiss Belinda Bencic 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
The 20-year-old reigning French Open champion will next face Petra Martic of Croatia who beat Czech 26th seed Barbora Strycova 7-5, 6-4.