Gagliardi downed again; Vavrinec through

Gagliardi's disappointing start to the season continues Keystone Archive

Genevan tennis player Emmanuelle Gagliardi has suffered another first round exit, crashing out to Spain's Christina Torrens Valero in her opening match at the Indian Wells tournament.

Pitted against an opponent ranked just five places above her in the sport’s standings, Gagliardi offered little resistance in the first set which Valero took 6-3. The Swiss world number 87 put up more of a fight in the second but was eventually beaten 5-7.

Swiss number four Miroslava Vavrinec made a far better start to the five million dollar Masters Series event. The 23-year-old from canton Thurgau (WTA 91) began her match against America’s Tara Snyder (WTA 127) in similar fashion to Gagliardi, losing the first set 3-6.

But Vavrinec turned the match around, taking the next two sets 6-3, 6-3 to set up a second round encounter with Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn (WTA 26).

Switzerland’s two top women’s players also learned the names of their second round opponents on Friday, after receiving byes in the first round.

World number one Martina Hingis will begin her campaign against Kveta Hrdlickova of the Czech Republic. The Swiss star is looking for her fourth WTA title of the season and her first Indian Wells title since 1998.

Swiss number two Patty Schnyder has been drawn against Italy’s Francesca Schiavone, who enjoyed a straight sets win over Germany’s Andrea Glass in the tournament’s opening round.

swissinfo with agencies