Israel’s Shahar Peer, whose exclusion from the WTA Dubai Open unleashed a storm of controversy, was back in business in the best possible way on Wednesday — with a win.
Peer cruised into the second round of the BNP Paribas Open with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko.
She needed just 54 minutes on court at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden to dispatch Bondarenko and book a second-round meeting with 10th-seeded Marion Bartoli of France.
Peer said the controversy hadn’t soured her on the idea of competing in Dubai.
“I will really look forward for that,” she said of playing there. “It’s a great tournament, and I really hope I’m going to go there next year.”
Her first order of business, however, is in the California desert, where the field includes defending champion Ana Ivanovic and fellow Serbian Jelena Jankovic
Top-seeded Dinara Safina leads a group of Russian contenders that includes Olympic champion Elena Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva and last year’s runner-up, Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova will test her long-injured right shoulder by playing doubles.
In another first round match on Wednesday, Taiwanese No.1 Chan Yung-jan earned a comfortable straight sets win over world No. 111 Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain.
Youth prevailed as the 19-year-old Chan downed her 35-year-old opponent from Madrid, 6-4, 6-1, in their first meeting in a WTA tournament.
It was only the second time this year that the world No. 61 had advanced beyond the first round of a WTA Tour singles event.
Meanwhile Australian Open darling Jelena Dokic was bundled out in the first round by US veteran Jill Craybas 6-4, 6-2.
Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova booked a second-round clash with Safina, beating New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic 6-4, 6-1 while Olga Govortsova of Belarus downed Britain’s Anne Keothavong 2-6, 6-3, 6-1
In the first round of the women’s doubles Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Peng Shuai of China earned an impressive, hard-fought victory against No. 3 seeds Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic and Lisa Raymond of the US. Hsieh and Peng won 2-6, 7-6 (3), 13-11.
Hsieh and Peng won the Medibank International Tournament in Sydney in January and Tuesday’s victory was their eighth as a pair this year.
Their sole defeat came against Venus and Serena Williams at the Australian Open.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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