WTA Indian Wells: Final rounds of qualifying completed; qualifiers placed in main draw

The final spots in the main draw of the BNP Paribas Open were finally confirmed after the second day of the qualifying rounds was completed, with not many surprises happening during the bright and sunny day.

Peng progresses to the main draw

Peng Shuai, the top seed in qualifying, continued her excellent start into 2017 as she qualified for the main draw after she defeated Jamie Loeb in the final qualifying round in straight sets. After an exchange of service holds to start the match with, Peng rattled off five straight games to clinch the first set 6-1 after just a mere 25 minutes. The Chinese only lost a total of two points on her serve in the set and seemed to be dominating the match.

The second set was much tighter in terms of the scoreboard as she faced two break points in the early stages of the set, with Loeb threatening to make a breakthrough. Nevertheless, Peng maintained her composure and her efforts paid off when she secured the first service break of the second set to take the lead. From there, Loeb lost her way as she gave her service game away once again to lose 12 of the last 13 points in the match.

Jamie Loeb fell to Peng Shuai in straight sets | Photo: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

Kontaveit seals spot in the main draw

Anett Kontaveit clinched a straight sets victory over Sesil Karatantcheva in just 46 minutes, breaking serve five times in a row. After jumping off to a great start to the match by securing the early break to lead 3-0, the Estonian carried her momentum onto the latter stages of the set as she broke serve once more, and eventually serving out the first set after just 22 minutes.

The second set seemed to be as straightforward as Karatantcheva seemed to be out of sorts when she went down a double break deficit in the second set and soon found herself down 0-5 within a blink of an eye. Serving for the match, Kontaveit let nerves get to her and was broken to allow the Bulgarian to have a lifeline. Nevertheless, the Estonian made full use of her second opportunity by successfully serving out the match easily and clinched a spot in the main draw after just 46 minutes.

Sesil Karatantcheva looked out of sorts today | Photo: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

Linette gets past tricky opponent

Magda Linette managed to sneak past Malaysian Open finalist Nao Hibino in straight sets, with the second set having to be decided in a tiebreak. A repeat of their semifinal last week in Kuala Lumpur, Linette managed to take revenge for her loss for the main draw placing here in California. Seemed to be fatigued by the long travel hours, Hibino went down an early break in the opening game of the match and failed to make an immediate reply after she missed four break point opportunities. Winning four games in a row, the Polish eventually closed out the first set 6-1 in just 35 minutes.

The second set was much closer as there were four consecutive breaks of serve to start it with before Linette had the first service hold of the set. After an exchange of service breaks once more, the set was eventually extended into a tiebreak to decide its winner. The tiebreak turned out to be as close as the set itself, with not more than two points separating both players at any point in time. Wasting two set point opportunities, Hibino eventually ran out of steam and gifted Linette the win, avenging her loss from last week.

Nao Hibino reached the final in Malaysia yesterday | Photo: Stanley Chou/Getty Images AsiaPac

Schiavone earns unbelievable win

Francesca Schiavone earned the victory against Elitsa Kostova in three sets with a bizarre scoreline, with three “bakery products” (6-0, 6-1 sets) being produced in this match full of momentum swings. After fending off a break point to hold her opening service game, Schiavone was unable to go against Kostova’s precise shots as she lost five games in a row to gift the Bulgarian the first set.

Facing two break points in the opening game of the second set, it seemed to be match over for the Italian as she was facing a risk of going down by a set and a break. Nevertheless, Schiavone showed her champion’s mentality by rattling off the next eight points in a row to instead earn the lead in the second set. Taking 12 of the next 14 points, Schiavone broke serve once more to place herself just one game away from leveling the match in a dramatic shift of momentum. Without a doubt, with the momentum running in the former grand slam champion, she broke serve for a third time in a row to level the match after just exactly one hour.

Francesca Schiavone would be happy with her performance over these few days | Photo: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

The final set was much of a similar story to the second as Schiavone jumped out to a double break lead within a blink of an eye, with both times we witnessed Kostova losing a 40-15 lead on their serves to trail 0-4. The rout continued as Schiavone eventually closed out the match with another service break, her sixth in a row, to clinch a moral double bagel victory.

Other results

A very tight first set which almost saw Patricia Maria Tig choke a 5-1 lead, but the Romanian managed to maintain her composure against Julia Boserup to close out the first set 7-5 at the last moments. The first set victory gave her the confidence and momentum needed to take the second set easily in just 79 minutes, clinching a berth in the main draw.

Varvara Lepchenko strolled to an unexpectedly easy win over Lucie Hradecka in straight sets, gifting the Czech a bagel in the process. Hradecka was very inconsistent on her serve throughout the match, with Lepchenko often able to expose her second serves and eventually led her to the victory in just 1 hour and 3 minutes.

Lucie Hradecka had a bad day at the office today | Photo: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography

A sloppy match played by Sachia Vickery allowed Tatjana Maria to triumph in straight sets, after seeing the American losing her service game for six games in a row and only managed to earn one single service hold throughout the whole match. Maria played a great match, and would now be participating in the main draw with some momentum having won two matches already.

Mariana Duque-Marino created a small upset over the higher-ranked Maria Sakkari in straight sets, with the Colombian mounting a huge comeback in the first set having been able to come from 1-5 down to steal the first set in a little over an hour. Duque-Marino had to fend off a spirited comeback from the Greek when she was up 5-0 in the tiebreak, eventually sealing the tiebreak 7-4. The second set saw another 5-1 lead being produced, this time by the Colombian as she maintained her composure and focus on sealing the match in straight sets and moving on the main draw.