INDIAN WELLS, California (AP)—Bethanie Mattek-Sands overcame illness to beat Vera Dushevina of Russia 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Wednesday.
Mattek-Sands called for the trainer while leading 6-4, 4-3. The match resumed after a lengthy delay that also included a visit from the WTA doctor.
Mattek-Sands said she was battling an upset stomach because “I just got sick. I was throwing up a little bit. It came on during the second set. I played in Dubai (in mid-February) and got sick there and when I came home I was in bed for a week and a half. I only had a couple of days of practice before I got here.”
Mattek-Sands said she never considered retiring from the match.
“I would have thrown up on the court first,” she said. “I was just going to gut it out.”
She did that by breaking Dushevina’s serve twice.
No. 32 Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic, the highest-ranked player on the schedule, outlasted Kristina Barrois of Germany, 7-6 (9), 6-7 (5), 6-0. Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia, Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia, Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland, Kimiko Date-Krum of Japan, Sybille Bammer of Austria, Monica Niculescu of Romania, Sania Mirza of India and Sara Errani of Italy also advanced.
Also, French qualifier Alize Cornet earned a 6-1, 6-4 win over No. 39 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland.
As well as Mattek-Sands, two other Americans advanced: Coco Vandeweghe beat Edina Gallovits-Hall of Romania, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, in a 2-hour, 23-minute match and Melanie Oudin closed out the session with a 7-6 (2), 6-2 win over Elena Vesnina of Russia.
Three U.S. wild cards were eliminated: Vania King, ranked No. 100, was beaten by Gisela Dulko of Argentina, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2; 17-year-old Lauren Davis lost to Zuzana Ondraskova of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-1; and Alison Riske fell to Barbara Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-1.