Raducanu through to second round at Indian Wells

Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu rallied from a break down in each set to beat Danka Kovinic 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday and reach the second round of the Indian Wells WTA and ATP Masters 1000.

Britain's Raducanu avenged a 2022 Australian Open second-round loss to the Montenegrin as she continued her fightback from various ailments that have slowed her 2023 campaign.

Raducanu had shut down her 2022 season early with wrist trouble and hurt her ankle in her second match of 2023 in Auckland.

She pulled out of the WTA event in Austin last week with tonsillitis and withdrew from a pre-tournament exhibition here when her wrist trouble flared up.

"It was a good match for me to get through," said Raducanu, who was down 0-2 in both sets. She polished it off in an hour and 21 minutes, breaking Kovinic to love in the final game.

"I played her at AO and it was quite the battle," Raducanu said. "I'm happy I stuck in."

Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, was just one of the former Grand Slam winners in action in the California desert.

In the night session, 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens took on 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin in an all-American clash.

Danielle Collins, the 2022 Australian Open runner-up, dropped a second straight decision against an opponent ranked outside the top 50 as she fell 6-4, 6-4 to 80th-ranked lucky loser Dalma Galfi.