Heather Watson advances in BNP Paribas Open

Posted March 08, 2017 6:00 am

Associated Press

Indian Wells, Calif. (AP) - Britain's Heather Watson beat American Nicole Gibbs 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open.

Watson will face No. 11 Johanna Konta in the second round.

Former No. 1 Martina Hingis and double partner Yung-Jan Chan beat Raquel Atawo and Yifan Xu 6-1, 6-4.

China's Qiang Wang, ranked No. 60, won one of the tightest matches of the day, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 over Ukraine' Kateryna Bondarenko. Wang will play No. 10 Elina Svitolina in the next round.

Puerto Rico's Monica Puig would have faced Serena Williams after beating American Danielle Collins 6-0, 6-2, but Williams pulled out Tuesday because of knee issues. Puig will face No. 3 Karolina Pliskova.

Sweden's Elias Ymer may have had the upset of the day with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka in men's qualifying play. Ymer is No. 158 in the ATP ranking, and Nishioka 70th.

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