Ekaterina Makarova ejects Rebecca Marino in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open – Tennis update
World number 41, Ekaterina Makarova of Russia, won her opening round match against the Canadian qualifier, Rebecca Marino at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California on Thursday night. The Russian wrapped up the three-set thriller in two hours and
three minutes, settling the score at 6-4, 4-6 and 6-4, earning a place in the second round of the Paribas Open.
A tense display of tennis was seen in Indian Wells with both players throwing their best at each other. Both players appeared equally poised as the momentum kept shifting between both sides throughout the contest. The Russian had a stumble in the second
set, which she lost to her opponent, but recovered very skilfully to come out as the winner in the end.
The 22-year-old Makarova exhibited her mental steel once again to outplay the world number 63 Marino. She was quick to assert her control over the game and had an aggressive start to the contest. Makarova’s left-handed cross-court shots caused some serious
problems for the Canadian, who wasn’t agile enough to cut down the angles of the opponent’s strokes.
Makarova’s forehand worked perfectly for her, thumping plenty of winners down the line. Her Canadian opponent replied with some crafty strokes to nab some points but she failed to earn a break point in the opener. Both players remained unbroken until the
fifth game when Makarova cracked the first serve break of the match to lead 3-2. The Russian consolidated her lead in the rest of the set and eventually concluded 6-4.
The 20-year-old Canadian made a strong comeback in the second set, breaking early to lead 3-1. Marino fired four aces in the set and took 11 out of 16 first serve points to consolidate her lead. Makarova stung a serve break to take the scores to 4-5 but
a couple of unforced errors by her, awarded a break point to Marino. The Canadian wrapped up the second set at 6-4 and enforcing a decisive third one.
No serve breaks were seen in the decider until the third game when Makarova stepped into the lead at 2-1. Marino had triple break points at 2-3 but the sloppy Canadian squandered all of them to trail at 2-4. A routine game took the scores to 5-4, in favour
of the Russian and an all important serve break from Makarova marked an end to the contest at 6-4.
Makarova will be taking on the eighth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the second round. Azarenka was awarded a bye to enter directly into the second round of the Paribas Open.
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