The second round of the 2022 WTA1000 Indian Wells station continued, and in the already concluded competition, five of the top ten seeded players of Sabalenka, Ka Pliskova, Muguruza, Abdul-Jabal and Ostapenko were eliminated. With top seed Kregitskova retiring before the tournament, there are now only four top ten seeded players left, Nameck, Kontaveit, Badosa and Sakkari.
Anisimova vs Fernandez, both youngsters have made a difference in the Grand Slam arena and have both titles this season: 20-year-old Anisimova won the cup in Melbourne earlier this year, and 19-year-old Fernandes successfully defended his title at Monterrey last week. It is worth mentioning that both have saved the match point on important occasions this year: Anisimova saved two match points at the Australian Open to pick out defending champion Naomi Osaka, and Fernandez won the cup at the Monterrey final to resolve five match points. The two sides have not played each other at any level before, who will have the last laugh in this encounter?
Anisimova took a 6-2 lead and Fernandez overcame 3-5 in the second set to save four match points to equalise 7-6 (0). Subsequently, he received a retirement gift from his opponent Anisimova and successfully advanced to the next round. The Canadian currently holds a wave of six consecutive singles wins. Next, she will play against another American player, Rogers.
The tournament continued, with two-time tournament champion and No. 13 seed Azarenka winning the 34th regular match after a two-set fierce battle to defeat lucky loser Sharma 6-3, 7-5. Next, she will face 17th seed Lebakina, who beat Uitfank 6-1, 7-5. It will be the first meeting of their careers between the two sides.
Buzkova, who broke through from the qualifiers, played nine consecutive sets in the end of the tournament to reverse the 14th seed Pegula 5-7, 6-2, 6-0 to set a new personal best record. It was the Czech's first TOP20 victory after the 2021 Phillip Island Championship and the eighth of his career.
Naomi Osaka and Kudmetova were supposed to meet in the semi-finals in Melbourne earlier this year, but the Japanese girl withdrew from the tournament due to injury before the match. At this week's WTA1000 Indian Wells station, the two will be facing each other in the second round of the net. Naomi Osaka beat Stevens in three sets in the first round and hopes to rebuild her confidence in the North American season. Kudmetova has finished two runners-up in the past two months, with the exception of her only two times this season, Barty and Kontawirt.
After two sets of competition, in the end, former champion and four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka lost 0-6, 4-6 to No. 21 seed Kudmetova, stopping the second round. Next, Buzkova played Kudmetova.
In addition, in the second round of the women's doubles, China's Jinhua Xu Yipan / Yang Zhaoxuan swept Zhan Haoqing / Reinett 6-1, 6-3 to successfully advance to the quarterfinals. Next, they will wait for the winner between Dolehead/Sanders and Case/Pergula.