Laura Siegemund, Kurumi Nara advance in Indian Wells

Published April 28, 2016

Qualifiers Laura Siegemund of Germany and Kurumi Nara of Japan set up matches against the Williams sisters with first-round victories Wednesday in the BNP Paribas Open.

On Friday, Siegemund will face top-ranked Serena Williams, and Nara will play 10th-seeded Venus Williams.

Nara beat Teliana Pereira of Brazil 6-1, 6-2, and Siegemund topped Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. At No. 35, Begu was the highest-ranked player in action on the opening day with all 32 seeds receiving first-round byes.

The other over 30s fared better, with No. 36 Lesia Tsurenko, No. 37 Barbora Strycova and No. 38 Coco Vandweghe all posting straight-set wins. Tsurenko, from the Ukraine, beat Timea Babos of Hungary 7-5, 6-4; Strycova, from the Czech Republic, rolled over Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, 6-1, 6-3; and Vandeweghe, who makes her home in Southern California, was a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands.

American qualifier Nicole Gibbs routed Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania, 6-1, 6-0, and Vania King beat qualifier Taylor Townsend 6-2, 6-3, in an all-American battle.

British wild-card Heather Watson rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the first set to beat Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-1.

Americans Alison Riske and Irina Falconi dropped out. Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic beat Riske 7-6 (4), 6-2, and Carina Witthoeft of Germany came back to top Falconi 0-6, 6-4, 6-4.

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