Indian Wells - WTA 2nd round commenced

Indian Wells - Day Three, the conclusion of first round matches for the ATP, and second round commencement for the WTA

BNP Paribas Open - a WTA Premier Mandatory category tournament, on Hard Plexipave, in Indian Wells, California, USA, 4-17 March 2019.

Defending champion:

Naomi Osaka who defeated Dasha Kasatkina (20) 6-3 6-2

WTA second round 

• Stefanie Voegele v Sloane Stephens (4)

Qualifier Voegele from Switzerland, once ranked as high as #42, now down at #109, has not enjoyed the best start to 2019, with only two wins from eight starts. 

Not that Stephens has much to write home about - 5-4 is not the type of win loss record for a world #4 to be wanting.

And it was the inconsistency of Stephens that came to the fore in set one against Voegele.  An early break saw the Swiss player leading 4-2, with Stephens desperate to hold and stay in touch.

Another scrappy effort from the American was saved by some equally poor shots for the other end.  From deuce, forehand and backhand winners produced the important game to Stephens and a 3-4 deficit.

Voegele 40-0 in a flash, thanks to three great serves, the third an ace.

An ace clinched the game and Stephens needed to hold to have any chance of winning the set.

0-15 after Stephens found the net.  15-30 following a repeat liaison with the net. Set point after a Voegele forehand return produced another Stephens error.  Stephens shot a forehand out of court to present Voegele with the opening set 6-3.

Where Stephens was competitive for most of set one, she was absent for the remainder of the match.  The fourth seed had a good first serve percentage of 72, while Voegele stood at 41, but that was the only statistic in the favour of Stephens.  The Swiss player completely destroyed the American in set two, winning 68% of points on her own serve, and a massive 72% on the Stephens serve.

Stefanie Voegele won perhaps the best match of her career 6-3 6-0.

In watching the fine performance by Stefanie, it was painful listening to the constant pathetic excuses thrown up by the commentators for why Stephens was losing.

• Marketa Vondrousova defeated last years runner-up Dasha Kasatkina (14)
• Garbiñe Muguruza (20) defeated wildcard Lauren Davis 6-1 6-3
• Wildcard Jennifer Brady defeated Caroline Garcia (19) 6-3 3-6 6-0
• Johanna Konta defeated Su-Wei Hsieh (27) 6-0 6-2
• Jelena Ostapenko (22) defeated Shuai Zhang 6-2 6-1
• Dasha Gavrilova defeated Mihaela Buzarnescu (29) 6-2 6-2
• Ash Barty defeated Tatjana Maria 6-4 6-4
• Qiang Wang (18) defeated Bernarda Pera 7-6(5) 6-2
• Simona Halep (2) defeated Barbora Strycova 6-2 6-4
• Qualifier Kateryna Kozlova defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich (31) 6-4 2-6 6-0
• Kiki Bertens (7) defeated Magda Linette 6-4 6-1
• Serena Williams (10) defeated Vika Azarenka 7-5 6-3
• Elise Mertens (16) defeated wildcard Amanda Anisimova 6-4 6-2
• Wildcard Bianca Andreescu defeated Dominica Cibulková (32) 6-2 6-2
• Elina Svitolina (6) defeated Sofia Kenin 3-6 7-6(5) 6-4