WTA Indian Wells, Paolini comes from behind to beat Potapova: faces Tomljanovic in third round

Rome, Mar. 7 (LaPresse) – A difficult but winning debut for Jasmine Paolini at the BNP Paribas Open, the third WTA 1000 event of the season (combined with the first ATP Masters 1000 of 2026), which offers total prize money of $9,415,715 and is being played on the hard courts of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California. Overnight in Italy, the 30-year-old from Bagni di Lucca, world No. 7 and the No. 7 seed, who entered the tournament directly in the second round, came from behind to defeat Austria’s Anastasia Potapova, world No. 91 (though she reached a career-high of No. 21 less than three years ago), 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-3 after two and a half hours of battle, winning the last four games of the match. The difference in favor of the Italian mainly came from greater solidity on serve: five aces (and just one double fault), 64% of first serves in with 65% of points won, plus 54% of points won on her second serve. Jasmine converted only 7 of the 17 break points she earned but saved 8 of the 11 she faced. Overall, Paolini won 114 points to Potapova’s 97.