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.

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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

Qualifying kicks off in the Sony Open today with 12 Americans taking part. Four of the US men are seeded (#13 Jack Sock, #16 Tim Smyczek, #17 Denis Kudla, #18 Michael Russell) while the other five will start by taking on seeded teams. Those five are Wayne Odesnik, Deiton Baughman, Alex Kuznetsov, Rhyne Williams, and Steve Johnson. Johnson takes on fellow American Michael Russell in the first round of qualifying.

On the women’s side none of the women are seeded. Melanie Oudin, Shelby Rogers, and Coco Vandeweghe are the ones set to take part. Some nice young names with real potential that hopefully can find there way into the draw.

Things kick off at 10 AM ET. The order of play can be found on the Sony Open website.

Previous BNP Paribas Open Coverage

Women’s Singles

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#17 Sloane Stephens saw her time in Indian Wells come to and end against #20 Flavia Pennetta Thursday. Pennetta took sets one and three 6-4 while Stephens did mange to nip the second set 7-5. As usual Stephens was fairly inconsistent in the match and at times looked like she’d get routed and would also come back to win easily. Sloane will now look forward to the Sony Open starting next week and another chance at a big tournament, though at this point we are all waiting for her first tournament win more than a semifinal run.

Men’s Singles

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#12 John Isner takes on #20 Ernests Gulbis on Friday with a chance to move into the semifinals. Gulbis leads 2-1 all-time with the two splitting a pair of meetings last season.

Men’s Doubles

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In the men’s doubles semifinals John Isner/Sam Querrey put up a great fight against #1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan before eventually falling 6-7 (4), 6-1, 10-7. The Bryans move into the Saturday final where they await the winner of today’s second men’s semifinal.

Broadcasting Information:

The Isner match will be on Tennis Channel with ESPN3.com also having a live stream of the match.

Schedule:

• March 14th – Tennis Channel – 6:30-11:30 PM ET
  • Men’s Quarterfinals
    • Approx. 6:45 PM ET – #12 John Isner vs. #20 Ernests Gulbis – ESPN3.com

Previous BNP Paribas Open Coverage

Women’s Singles

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#17 Sloane Stephens continued her strong play on Tuesday when she beat Alisa Kleybanova 6-3, 7-5 to move into the quarterfinals. Her quarterfinal opponent will be #20 Flavia Pennetta, so Stephens will be favored in Indian Wells to make the semifinals. There’s no doubt she’s showing again why she’s a potential future world #1, when she is on her game she is one of the best around already.

Unfortunately Lauren Davis wasn’t able to reach the quarterfinals and for very sad reasons. She was not able to take the court for her round of 16 match vs. Casey Dellacqua due to food poisoning. She had a great tournament and can hopefully use that to propel her to even bigger future success.

Men’s Singles

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#12 John Isner has not and will not face any higher ranked players unless he reaches the men’s semifinals. After beating #30 Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3 on Wednesday in the round of 16 he’s set for a quarterfinal matchup with #20 Ernests Glubis on Friday. Isner has looked good this week and a semifinal appearance in Indian Wells would be a great way to kick start his season after a slow start dealing with injury.

Men’s Doubles

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We know that there will be an American doubles teams in the final as John Isner/Sam Querrey will take on #1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan in the semifinals on Thursday.  The Bryan brothers will obviously be favored but the way Isner/Querrey have played this week it’s certainly true that anything is possible.

Broadcasting Information:

Tennis Channel will be broadcasting the tournament from 2 PM – 2 AM ET while ESPN3.com should have a stream of the play.

Schedule:

• March 13th – Tennis Channel – 2-8 PM ET, 10 PM-12 AM ET
  • Women’s Quarterfinals
    • Approx. 6 PM ET – #17 Sloane Stephens vs. #20 Flavia Pennetta – Stadium 1 – ESPN3.com
  • Men’s Doubles Semifinals
    • Approx. 8 PM ET – #1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan vs. John Isner/Sam Querrey – Stadium 1 – ESPN3.com

Previous BNP Paribas Open Coverage

#17 Sloane Stephens advanced in an impressive straight sets win over #13 Ana Ivanovic and the US now has two women favored to advanced to the quarterfinals of the women’s draw. Stephens continues to show up for big matches and tournaments so no one is really surprised that she’d be playing well in this one.

Women’s Singles

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As mentioned earlier, #17 Sloane Stephens took out #11 Ana Ivanovic 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the third round on Monday. Stephens now gets a bit of a break as Alisa Kleybanova has advanced to the round of 16. While she is a player who was ranked as high as #20 before battling  Hodgkin’s Lymphoma for a few years she was never ranked as high as Stephens is and it would be a major disappointment for Sloane to lose to her.

In the other round of 16 matchup on Tuesday Lauren Davis will take on on Casey Dellacqua. This is an interesting matchup between two players who have had some of the nicer upsets so far in this tournament. Davis is a slightly higher ranked player and with her playing on American soil and having knocked off Azarenka I think she’d be disappointed to get knocked out here.

Looking ahead to the quarterfinals Stephens would be the higher ranked player as her best possible opponent would be #20 Flavia Pennetta, so for Sloane to reach a semifinal here in Indian Wells seems like a good goal at this point.

Men’s Singles

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#12 John Isner didn’t play on Monday but now is set to take on Yen-hshn Lu on Tuesday. Isner looks capable of advancing to the semifinals in the men’s draw and losing to Lu would be very disappointing.

Men’s Doubles

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John Isner/Sam Querrey got a second win in two days this time knocking off #8 Lukasz Kubot/Robert Lindstedt 6-3, 7-6 (6). They are playing good doubles tennis right now and will face #3 Ivan Dodig/Marcelo Melo when they play again, that will be a tough matchup for them. #1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan get their round of 16 match completed today when they take on Julien Benneteau/Edouard Roger-Vasselin as usual the Americans will be big favorites.

Broadcasting Information:

Tennis Channel will be broadcasting the tournament from 2 PM – 2 AM ET while ESPN3.com has streams of the play at three stadiums that will include all the matches featuring Americans.

Schedule:

• March 11th – Tennis Channel – 2 PM-2 AM ET
  • Men’s Third Round
    • Approx. 10 PM ET – #12 John Isner vs. Yen-hsun Lu – Stadium 1 – ESPN3.com – Isner leads 2-0 all-time
  • Women’s Round of 16
    • Approx. 6 PM ET – Lauren Davis vs. Casey Dellacqua – Stadium 3 – ESPN3.com – Davis leads 1-0 all-time
    • Approx. 10 PM ET – #17 Sloane Stephens vs. Alisa Kleybanova – Stadium 2 – ESPN3.com – First ever meeting
  • Men’s Doubles Round of 16
    • Approx. 10 PM ET – Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan vs. Julien Benneteau/Edouard Roger-Vasselin – Stadium 2 – ESPN3.com – First ever meeting

Previous BNP Paribas Open Coverage

#12 John Isner advanced in straight sets over Nikolay Davydenko as the US had a much stronger day at the BNP Paribas Open. In addition to Isner’s singles win they also had victories in women’s singles and men’s doubles.

Women’s Singles

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The only match featuring Americans on Sunday was a matchup between two of them as Lauren Davis and Varvara Lepchenko met in the third round. Davis handled Lepchenko easily 6-3, 6-2 as her fantastic run continues in Indian Wells. Davis is now into the round of 16 and will actually be the higher ranked player when she takes on Casey Dellacqua on Wednesday.

Between Davis and #17 Sloane Stephens, who takes on #11 Ana Ivanovic in the third round on Monday, the US has a real chance at two quarterfinalists.

Men’s Singles

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#12 John Isner kept the Americans alive in the men’s singles draw when he defeated Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the second round on Sunday. Isner got a break as he won’t have to take on a seeded player in the third round but instead will face Yen-hshn Lu on Tuesday.

Men’s Doubles

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John Isner/Sam Querrey got a solid win over Jeremy Chardy/Gilles Simon to open up their doubles tournament 7-5, 6-2. The Americans will turn around and play again against #8 Lukasz Kubot/Robert Lindstedt on Monday.

Broadcasting Information:

Tennis Channel will be broadcasting the tournament from 2 PM – 2 AM ET while ESPN3.com has streams of the play at three stadiums that will include the Sloane Stephens match.

Schedule:

• March 10th – Tennis Channel – 2 PM-2 AM ET
  • Women’s Third Round
    • Approx. 10 PM ET – #17 Sloane Stephens vs. #11 Ana Ivanovic – Stadium 1 – ESPN3.com – Ivanovic leads 2-0 all-time
  • Men’s Doubles Round of 16
    • Approx. 8 PM ET – John Isner/Sam Querrey vs. #8 Lukasz Kubot/Robert Lindstedt – First ever meeting

Previous BNP Paribas Open Coverage

Things did not go great for the US at the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday. US players went 1-6 in singles and 1-3 in doubles (though one of those was a matchup of two American teams). The only singles player to advance was Sloane Stephens while Bob and Mike Bryan moved on in men’s doubles play. Of course it is worth noting that every player or team that lost was the lower ranked of the two sides in their matchup.

Women’s Singles

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#17 Sloane Stephens got her tournament off to a great start by winning set one 6-4 and then dominating set two to beat Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 6-0. Stephens will have a tough matchup in the next round as she takes on #11 Ana Ivanovic. Beyond that looks like a winnable round of 16 matchup so it’s likely that the winner of the Stephens–Ivanovic matchup will be a quarterfinalist.

The other American who looked good on Saturday was 17-year-old Taylor Townsend. Townsend couldn’t get the exciting upset over #20 Flavia Pennetta but did take the second set 7-6 (4) in between losing sets one and three 3-6, certainly a good performance.

Sunday sees the all-American third round matchup between Lauren Davis and Varvara Lepchenko. Davis is riding high off her upset of #3 Victoria Azarenka and a round of 16 here would be great for her.

Women’s Doubles

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The US women’s doubles teams are done after the last Americans left, Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears, lost 3-6, 4-6 to #5 Cara Black/Sania Mirza on Saturday.

Men’s Singles

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The US didn’t get a men’s singles winner on Saturday but Sam Querrey did get to a third set against #29 Andreas Seppi but lost 6-4, 6-7 (3), 3-6. He had a chance in the second set but just couldn’t get over the hump. Ryan Harrison also had a chance on Saturday after winning set one 7-5 against #13 Fabio Fognini but he fell in three sets 7-5, 1-6, 4-6.

#12 John Isner is the final American left in the men’s singles draw. He takes on Nikolay Davydenko in the second round on Sunday. Isner who would be the higher ranked player in the next round no matter who he plays so anything less than the round of 16 will be a disappointment here.

Men’s Doubles

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Two American teams were eliminated on Saturday but both against strong competition. Eric Butorac/Raven Klaasen (South Africa) lost 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-10 to #2 Alexander Peya/Bruno Soares while Scott Lipsky/Florian Mayer (Germany) lost 1-6, 3-6 to #1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan. The only other American team left is John Isner/Sam Querrey and they will face Jeremy Chardy/Gilles Simon in the first round on Sunday.

Broadcasting Information:

Tennis Channel will be broadcasting the tournament from 2 PM – 2 AM ET while ESPN3.com has streams of the play at three stadiums that will include the Isner matches.

Schedule:

• Men’s Second Round
  • Approx. 4 PM ET – #12 John Isner vs. Nikolay Davydenko – Stadium 2 – ESPN3.com – Davydenko leads 3-2 all-time
• Women’s Third Round
  • Approx. 6 PM ET – Lauren Davis vs. Varvara Lepchenko – Lepchenko leads 1-0 all-time
• Men’s Doubles First Round
  • Approx. 12 AM ET – John Isner/Sam Querrey vs. Jeremy Chardy/Gilles Simon – Stadium 2 – ESPN3.com – First Ever Meeting

Previous BNP Paribas Open Coverage

Lauren Davis picked up quite possibly the most significant win of her career on Friday night when she knocked out #3 Victoria Azarenka in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open 6-0, 7-6 (2). Davis is now into the third round where she’ll face another American, Varavara Lepchenko, guaranteeing we’ll have at least one American woman in the round of 16.

Women’s Singles

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I mentioned in the opening how Lauren Davis took full advantage of her opportunity against Victoria Azarenka to get a major upset and move into the third round. Her opponent in the third round, Varvara Lepchenko, also upset her opponent, Daniela Hantuchova, on Friday 6-3, 6-2. Madison Keys lost 3-6, 3-6 to Robert Vinci to end her hopes of making some noise in Indian Wells while Shelby Rogers saw her tournament end 4-6, 3-6 to Magadalena Rybarikova.

On Saturday the top-ten upset chance will be presented to Coco Vandeweghe who takes on world #9 Petra Kvitova. 17-year-old Taylor Townsend has an exciting matchup with #20 Flavia Pennetta while Sloane Stephens will finally get started as she takes on Ajla Tomljanovic to wrap up the day in Stadium 1. Stephens has struggled in tournaments the last month but with a big chance here and playing in the main court I imagine she’ll show up for this one.

Women’s Doubles

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The US doubles teams have fallen quickly in the first round. The only Americans left, Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears, advanced by beating another American, Megan Moulton-Levy and partner Sharon Fichman of Canada, 7-6 (4), 6-2 on Friday. Moulton-Levy/Fichman replaced Lisa Raymond/Shuai Zhang (China).

Kops-Jones/Spears will take on #5 Cara Black/Sania Mirza on Saturday to try and remain the last Americans in the field.

Men’s Singles

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The US went 0-4 on Friday in the first round but it wasn’t real unexpected as three of  the four were ranked 119 or worse. Hopefully that number doesn’t repeat itself as four Americans play in the second round on Saturday. The best chance for a winner for the US is likely Sam Querrey who takes on #29 Andreas Seppi. The other three US players to play on Saturday (Tim Smyczek, Michael Russell, Ryan Harrison) are all outside the top 100 and will be looking for big upsets.

Men’s Doubles

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Their are only four American men’s doubles teams playing in the tournament and two of them will be extremely challenged in the first round today. Eric Butorac/Raven Klaasen (South Africa) take on #2 Alexander Peya/Bruno Soares in one matchup while Scott Lipsky/Florian Mayer (Germany) face the #1 team in the world, Americans Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan. The Americans are likely to have a team deep in to the tournament in Bryan/Bryan but it’s quite possible they will be the only ones to advance from the first round too.

Broadcasting Information:

Tennis Channel will be broadcasting the tournament from 2 PM – 2 AM ET while ESPN3.com has streams of the play at three stadiums that will include 3 of the 7 singles matches involving the US on Thursday including Sloan Stephens.

Schedule:

• March 8th – Tennis Channel – 2 PM-2 AM ET
  • Men’s Second Round
    • 2 PM ET – Michael Russell vs. #14 Mikhail Youzhny
    • Approx. 4 PM ET – Sam Querrey vs.  #29 Andreas Seppi
    • Approx. 6 PM ET – Tim Smyczek vs. #28 Alexandr Dolgopolov
    • Approx. 8 PM ET – Ryan Harrison vs.  #13 Fabio Fognini – Stadium 3 – ESPN3.com
  • Women’s Second Round
    • Approx. 4 PM ET – Coco Vandeweghe vs. #8 Petra Kvitova – Stadium 3 – ESPN3.com
    • Approx. 8 PM ET – Taylor Townsend vs. #20 Flavia Pennetta
    • Approx. 12 AM ET – #17 Sloane Stephens vs. Ajla Tomljanovic – Stadium 1 – ESPN3.com
  • Women’s Doubles Round of 16
    • Approx. 6 PM ET – Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears vs. #5 Cara Black/Sania Mirza
  • Men’s Doubles First Round
    • 2 PM ET – Eric Butorac/Raven Klaasen (South Africa) vs. #2 Alexander Peya/Bruno Soares
    • Approx. 12 AM ET – #1 Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan vs. Scott Lipsky/Florian Mayer (Germany) – Stadium 2 – ESPN3.com

Previous BNP Paribas Open Coverage

The US moved two women and four men into the second round on Thursday as the BNP Paribas Open moves towards its first weekend. The women start the second round on Friday with the seeded players beginning competition. Both Madison Keys and Lauren Davis will be taking on top 15 players with Davis getting the opportunity for a top five upset. On the men’s side four more American will wrap up the first round though only one of them is in the world’s top 100 right now.

Women’s Singles

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Two American women moved into the second round in Thursday’s action but it might not be the two you expected. The two highest ranked Americans playing on Thursday lost. Bethanie Mattek-Sands was a 3-6, 5-7 loser to Caroline Garcia while Vania King lost 0-6, 6-3, 2-6 to Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova. The two American who moved on were Taylor Towsend and Coco Vandeweghe, who looked really good in a 6-4, 6-0 win over Alexandra Cadantu.

Townsend is just 17-years-old and has been ranked as the #1 junior girls player in the world. She took on Karin Knapp, the Italian who beat both Christina McHale and Alison Riske in the Fed Cup and is ranked in the top 50, and beat her soundly 7-6 (1), 6-1. It’s certainly a statement from Townsend who is going to become a bigger and bigger name over the next few years in the world of US tennis. She’ll take on another Italian, Flavia Pennetta, in the second round on Saturday.

The two biggest matches for Americans in Friday’s women’s second round action will be Madison Keys taking on #13 Roberta Vinci and Lauren Davis taking on #3 Victoria Azarenka. Keys certainly would seem to have a better chance but Davis has the chance for the bigger noise-making upset.

Women’s Doubles

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The two doubles teams to start play on Thursday both lost. Madison Keys/Alison Riske lost to #5 Cara Black/Sania Mirza 2-6, 4-6 while Liezel Huber/Chan Hao-ching (Chinese Taipei) lost to #2 Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina. There might be an easier matchup for Americans on Friday as only one of the matchups involves a seeded team, Vania King/Galina Voskoboeva (Kazakhstan) taking on #8 Lucie Hradecka/Jie Zheng.

There will also be an American-on-American first round battle as Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears take on Lisa Raymond/Shuai Zhang (China). These are the two highest ranked American teams left in the field so the winner of that could have the best chance to go deep in the tournament.

Men’s Singles

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Four American men moved into the second round on Thursday, but considering three of them took out fellow Yanks to get there perhaps that isn’t surprising. Sam Querrey wasn’t challenged in a 6-3, 6-3 win over Alex Kuznetsov. The other two matches went the three sets with Donald Young starting well but falling apart late in a 6-4, 1-6, 2-6 loss to Michael Russell and Tim Smyczek weathering a bad set for a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 win over Jack Sock.

The four Americans in action on Friday are mostly lower ranked with three of the four ranked 119 or worse. Of those Rajeev Ram might have the best chance to advance as he takes on another sub-125 player in Horacio Zeballos. The matchup between Bradley Kahn and Marinko Matosevic should aslo be good as the two players are both ranked in the 60s.

Broadcasting Information:

Tennis Channel will be broadcasting the tournament from 2 PM – 2 AM ET while ESPN3.com has streams of the play at three stadiums that will include 6 of the 8 singles matches involving the US on Thursday including all of the men’s matches.

Schedule:

• March 7th – Tennis Channel – 2 PM-2 AM ET
  • Men’s First Round
    • Approx. 4 PM ET – Bradley Klahn vs. Marinko Matosevic – Stadium 1 – ESPN3.com – First ever meeting
    • Approx. 6 PM ET – Steve Johnson vs. Roberto Bautista-Agut – Stadium 1 – ESPN3.com – First ever meeting
    • Approx. 6 PM ET – Rajeev Ram vs. Horacio Zeballos – Stadium 3 – ESPN3.com – First ever meeting
    • Approx. 10 PM ET – Daniel Kosakowski vs. Dominic Thiem – Stadium 2 – ESPN3.com – First ever meeting
  • Women’s Second Round
    • 2 PM ET – Shelby Rogers vs. #31 Magdalena Rybarikova – Rybarikova leads 1-0 all-time
    • 2 PM ET – Varvara Lepchenko vs. #29 Daniela Hantuchova – Hantuchova leads 1-0 all-time
    • Approx. 6 PM ET – Madison Keys vs. #13 Roberta Vinci – Stadium 2 – ESPN3.com – Vinci leads 1-0 all-time
    • Approx. 10 PM ET – Lauren Davis vs. #3 Victoria Azarenka – Stadium 1 – ESPN3.com – First ever meeting
  • Women’s Doubles First Round
    • Approx. 6 PM ET – Sloane Stephens/Andrea Petkovic (Germany) vs. Vera Dushevina/Mirjana Lucic-Baroni – First ever meeting
    • Approx. 8 PM ET – Raquel Kops-Jones/Abigail Spears vs. Lisa Raymond/Shuai Zhang (China) – First ever meeting
    • Approx. 8 PM ET – Vania King/Galina Voskoboeva (Kazakhstan) vs. #8 Lucie Hradecka/Jie Zheng – First ever meeting
    • Approx. 8 PM ET – Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Nadia Petrova (Russia) vs. Alisa Kleybanova/Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – First ever meeting