INDIAN WELLS, Calif., March 9 (UPI) -- Zuzana Ondraskova won her first match of the year Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open to earn a meeting with defending French Open champion Francesca Schiavone.
Ondraskova's victory came in the opening round of a tournament that begins a big month in tennis -- one that will see the world's top men and women players gather on the same courts for two events in a row.
There will be 96-player fields at both Indian Wells and Key Biscayne, Fla., tournaments that will lead up to the French Open. The 32 seeds in both the men's and women's brackets receive a bye past the first round. The men's portion of the BNP Paribas event begins Thursday.
Ondraskova had played in five previous tournaments this year and had lost in the first round in all of them. That streak ended when she recorded a 6-2, 6-1 victory over wild card Lauren Davis.
Ondraskova will meet fifth-seeded Francesca Schiavone in the second round.
Alla Kudryavtseva also enjoyed some rare success Wednesday, and will also face a difficult challenge in the second round. Kudryavtseva defeated Serena Cirstea 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to run her match record this year to 3-5 and will next face second-seeded Kim Clijsters.
Coco Vandeweghe's 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Edina Gallovits-Hall earned her a match against No. 6 seed Jelena Jankovic, who has reached at least the semifinals of her last three tournaments.
Other first-round winners Wednesday included Gisela Dulko, Alize Cornet, Anastasija Sevastova, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Timea Bacsinszky, Sara Errani and Sybille Bammer.
