Coming off a rousing victory, Compton native Serena Williams will face off against Garbine Muguruza Sunday in the 2019 BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, part of a full day of women’s and men’s singles action.
Williams was a 7-5, 6-3 winner over Victoria Azarenka in Friday’s second-round play, in an entertaining match that lasted just over two hours.
But if Williams wants to capture her third championship at Indian Wells Tennis Garden, she’ll have to go through the Spaniard Muguruza, who is 20th on the Women’s Tennis Association singles rankings and was the women’s singles champion at Wimbledon in 2017.
Williams is ranked 10th. Both women have been ranked No. 1 in the past. The pair will meet each other at Stadium One at Indian Wells Tennis Garden in a match that’s tentatively scheduled to begin at 1:35 p.m.
Meanwhile, Serena’s sister Venus Williams upset third-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova on Saturday, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, and will play American Christina McHale in Monday’s action.
Also Saturday, men’s No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeated American Bjorn Fratangelo, 7-6, 6-2, and will play German Philipp Kohlschreiber on Monday.
In another match-up to watch Sunday, 18-year-old Canadian rising star Bianca Andreescu will go head-to-head against 109th-ranked Stefanie Voegele from Switzerland, who stunned spectators by handily beating 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens, 6-3, 6-0, on Friday.
Saturday saw eighth-ranked Angelique Kerber eliminate Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva in two sets, 6-0, 6-2, while ninth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the third round by beating New Zealander Ajla Tomljanovic.
On the men’s side, second-ranked Rafael Nadal is scheduled to play his first match of the tournament Sunday, having received an opening-round bye. Nadal will be pitted against 22-year-old American Jared Donaldson.
The two previously faced each other at the 2017 Shanghai Masters, where Nadal defeated Donaldson in straight sets.
Eyes will also be on second-ranked Roger Federer, coming off his 100th title win in Dubai and chasing his 101st, and what would be a record-breaking sixth at Indian Wells. He goes up against 85th-ranked German Peter Gojowczyk on Sunday.
Sunday’s singles losers will each receive $48,775, while the winners will earn at least $91,205. The men’s and women’s singles champions will each receive slightly more than $1.354 million.
The tournament concludes next Sunday. The box office is open Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and can be reached at (800) 999-1585. More information can be found at bnpparibasopen.com/tickets/daily-tickets/.