Several Grand Slam champions were in second-round action on Day 3 of the BNP Paribas Open. Defending Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka won on Friday by beating Evgenia Rodina. And this is how it went for three great champions:
[24] Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) d. Aleksandra Chasnovich 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
Jelena Ostapenko won the match against Aleksandra Sasnovich 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in 2 hours and 5 minutes.
The former Roland Garros champion has now won five of his six meetings with Sasnovich, but four of those wins have come the distance. It was another fast-paced showing: Ostapenko led 4-0 in the first set, but Sasnovich broke her back at 4-4 before closing it out.
Sasnovich relentlessly attacked Ostapenko’s second serve in the second set, allowing the Latvian to win just two of 11 points. But Ostapenko brought that tally to eight of 11 and retired in the decider. Meanwhile, Chasnovich would go on to play in two separate games in which he committed three double fouls (including multiple foot fouls).
Ostapenko’s third-round opponent will be another Grand Slam champion: Petra Kvitova.
[15] Petra Kvitova (CZE) d. [WC] Elizabeth Mandlik (United States) 6-1, 7-5
Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova won her first match in her fortnight, knocking out American wild card Mandlik in 86 minutes. Kvitova has reached the Indian Wells quarterfinals twice in 2013 and 2016, but she has yet to get past that desert round in her career.
Kvitova dominated the first set, where she won all nine of her first serve points and did not face a break point. World number 155 Mandlik took the second set 5-4 to level the match.
Highlights: Kvitova def. Mandlik
Kvitova has held a slim 5-4 lead over Ostapenko since 2016. Their most recent meeting was a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ostapenko on grass in the final. Eastbourne grade last year.
[16] Barbora Krejcikova d. [WC] Dayana Yastremska 6-1, 6-2
Dubai champion Barbora Krejcikova extended her lead to seven after 69 minutes to dispatch Dayana Yastremska 6-1, 6-2. The Czech lost to Yastremska in her last meeting in Doha last year after an elbow injury to her sidelined her for three months.
Krejcikova’s revenge was merciless. After losing the first game, she dropped just nine more points in the remainder of the first set and won eight straight games to go broke in the second. Having successfully mitigated Yastremska’s power, Krejcikova’s only short break came when she failed to serve, though she dodged it on the Ukrainian’s serve in the next game.
