INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) Sloane Stephens rallied from a two-game deficit in the second set to beat Chanelle Scheepers 7-5, 7-5 in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday night.
The victory in the 1-hour, 39-minute match snapped the 21-year-old American's three-match losing streak and set up a second-round meeting with 13th-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany.
Stephens reached the quarterfinals last year when ranked 18th in the world. But she fell out of the top 20 after Wimbledon, missed much of the fall with a left wrist injury and has slipped to No. 42.
Stephens was the last of the seven Americans in action on an overcast opening day in the two-week event at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. She was joined in the second round by Alison Riske, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia; wild-card Sachia Vickery, whose 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6) win over Alla Kudryavtseva left the Russian in tears; and wild-card Irina Falconi, a 7-6 (6), 6-4 winner over Croatia's Ajla Tomljanovic.
Louisa Chirico, another U.S. wild card ranked 148th in the world, lost to Donna Vekic of Croatia, 6-4, 6-3; Nicole Gibbs lost a 6-3, 7-5 decision to Puerto Rico's Monica Puig; and Grace Min was beaten by Marina Erakovic of New Zealand, 6-3, 6-1.
In other matches, Heather Watson of Britain topped Julia Goerges of Germany 6-4, 5-7, 6-3; Elena Vesnina of Russia beat qualifier Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine 6-3, 6-3; qualifier Daria Gavrilova of Russia ousted Silvia Soler-Espinosa of Spain 6-3, 6-4; and Mona Barthels of Germany outlasted Kristina Mladenovic of France 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.