Kenin dominates Stephens to move on to next round at Indian Wells

Sofia Kenin defeated Sloane Stephens in the first round of the BNP Paribas Indian Wells tournament.

The feature match of the day saw two local players and Grand Slam champions facing off, although both were far from their peak form. Kenin had only won one of her last five matches and entered the main draw as a wild card, currently ranked 170th in the world, which wouldn't even allow her to enter the tournament's qualifying round.

Stephens has not had a good start to the season, losing in the first round of the first three tournaments she played. Although she showed a better level in Merida, everything ended abruptly with a double bagel (0-6, 0-6) against Italian Camila Giorgi. Although she had better feelings last week, she came to Indian Wells hoping to get back on track for the rest of the season.

Although the first set was quite even in the first few games, Kenin came in with a lot of motivation and dominated most of the points, while her opponent made many unforced errors with her forehand. Kenin broke serve at 5-4 and won the set.

The second set deepened the difference in attitude between the players at the beginning of the match. Sloane was visibly frustrated and trying to close the points quickly, which led her to make many unforced errors that marked the match. Although Kenin showed some doubts in closing out the match towards the end of the set, she managed to win on the third match point and left the result at 6-4, 6-1. In the next round, she will face another Grand Slam winner, Elena Rybakina.