Caroline Wozniacki, Agnieszka Radwanska, Angelique Kerber and Venus Williams all made it out of a difficult second round to end their first week at the BNP Paribas Open. The top players in the WTA each had their separate successes with adversity of different degrees for some.
The recent former world number one had things easily in play against fellow German Andrea Petkovic. Their early match ended with speed from Kerber who went on to take the match in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 on Stadium One court. The match took less than an hour with Kerber a strong first serve percentage that took its toll on Petkovic’s game as a whole.
The same could be said for another former number one who has been slowly progressing back to the top. The tenth seed quickly dispatched Magda Linette of Poland in a 6-3, 6-0 rout on Stadium 4. The Dane’s second serve was at its best taking down the return power of the world number 80.
Radwanska thought that she would have a similar day like her top competitors but was sorely mistaken. The actions from qualifier Sara Sorribes Tormo pushed her to fight to just stay ahead in the sets. She somehow kept things in straight sets winning her way to the third round 6-3, 6-4. The first serve carried the struggles of her second that Tormo countered on in the late stages of the sets.
One who overcame more than her fellow stars was the former number one American who found herself down 1-6 in the first set against Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic who once held the same rank. A huge fight in the second led the two to a very combative tiebreaker that ended with Williams winning 7-6. She had plenty left in the tank going into the third where Jankovic completely fell apart to lose 6-1 herself.
It was the best comeback for Williams in her first round that was no doubt full of jitters. She and the rest will move into the third round that begins Monday morning.
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