Shelby Rogers topped Katie Volynets 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 in an all-U.S. first-round matchup at the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday in Indian Wells, Calif.
Rogers converted five of her 12 break-point opportunities, and she was aided by seven double faults from Volynets.
“Two Americans, she definitely has a very bright future, and unfortunately only one of us could win today,” Rogers said post-match. “She’s one of the nicest girls I’ve met on tour, and I look forward to seeing her more.”
Rogers, 30, is still looking for her first career WTA Tour title. She reached her third final last year at San Jose, Calif. Volynets, 21, was coming off a semifinal appearance in Austin, Texas, last week, her best-ever WTA Tour result.
Next up for Rogers is a second-round meeting against seventh-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece. The event’s top 32 seeds, including No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland, No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 3 Jessica Pegula of the United States and No. 4 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, received first-round byes.
Other opening-round winners included Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska and Lesia Tsurenko, the Czech Republic’s Linda Fruhvirtova, Spain’s Cristina Bucsa, Italy’s Camila Giorgi and China’s Xinyu Wang and Xiyu Wang.
–Field Level Media
