Previous Sony Open Coverage 

The Sony Open kicks into high gear today as qualifying is over and the singles draws start in full force. Two Americans did play in the first round yesterday with Varvara Lepchenko getting a win 7-5, 6-1 over Yanina Wickmayer and Bethanie Mattek-Sands seeing her tournament end quickly after a 3-6, 6-3, 3-6 loss to Elina Svitoina, a tough opening round draw for Mattek-Sands.

Click Image to Expand

Four of the seven Americans (Madison Keys, Alison Riske, Vania King, and Victoria Duval) are taking on qualifiers and are the higher ranked player in their matchup. Coco Vandeweghe, who emerged from qualifying for the US, takes on Marina Erakovic and is the underdog. That leaves two other matchups that are worth highlighting. Lauren Davis, who had such a great BNP Paribas Open before coming down with food poisoning in the round of 16, takes on Shuai Zhang. Zhang is one of the best unseeded players in the field so this is a tough first round matchup for Davis. Hopefully Davis can continue her strong form from Indian Wells and have another strong week. The other interesting matchup is Christina McHale and Jie Zheng. Both are ranked in the mid-50s so that has all the look of a really good battle.

Schedule:

• March 19th – 11 AM-11 PM ET – Tennis Channel
  • Women’s First Round
    • 11 AM ET – Lauren Davis vs. Shuai Zhang – Court 1 – ESPN3.com – First ever meeting
    • 11 AM ET – Vania King vs. Estrella Cabeza Candela – First ever meeting
    • Approx 1 PM ET – Victoria Duval vs. Kiki Bertens – Bertens leads 1-0 all-time
    • Approx 3 PM ET – Coco Vandeweghe vs. Marina Erakovic – First ever meeting
    • Approx 3 PM ET – Christina McHale vs. Jie Zheng – Stadium – ESPN3.com – First ever meeting
    • Approx 7 PM ET – Alison Riske vs. Nadiya Kichenok – Court 1 – ESPN3.com – First ever meeting
    • Approx 9:30 PM ET – Madison Keys vs. Anett Kontaveit – Stadium – ESPN3.com – First ever meeting