Indian Wells Day 3 preview: Pegula looking to keep up strong play

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Second-round action starts on Day 3 of the BNP Paribas Open, with 16 of the 32 seeds opening their campaigns after receiving first-round byes. Among them are Dubai champion Barbora Krejcikova

, Australian Open champion and last year's runner-up . Meanwhile, home players and face stern tests off the bat.

Here are the top five picks from the packed schedule.

Indian Wells Round 1 action: Rogers, Fruhvirtova advance | Galfi surprises Collins | Kenin defeats Stephens | Raducanu makes winning return

[16] Barbora Krejcikova

View Profile (CZE) vs. [WC] Dayana Yastremska

View Profile (UKR)

Head-to-head: 1-1

This time last year, Barbora Krejcikova

was due to contest Indian Wells as the No.1 seed. But she'd suffered a pair of early losses in the Middle East, including one in Dubai to -- a harbinger, it turned out, of an elbow injury that would rule her out of the Sunshine Double and sideline her for three months.

Twelve months on, the Czech is only the No.16 seed, but arguably the hottest player on tour. She announced her return to form in Dubai, where she became the fifth player in WTA history to defeat the Top 3 ranked players in one tournament en route to her biggest trophy since Roland Garros 2021. The WTA 1000 title was Krejcikova's third in the past six months; in two of those, Ostrava and Dubai, she managed to inflict a rare final defeat on World No.1 Iga Swiatek

2023 highlights: Yastremska d. Cornet, Dubai R1

Yastremska, 22, has also endured a torrid 12 months. A week after defeating Krejcikova, the Ukrainian had to flee her home country after it was invaded by Russia. She managed to reach the Lyon final a week after that, but has understandably struggled since. But the former World No.21 has been putting together some more positive results this year as she seeks to rediscover the form that saw her win three WTA titles as a teenager.

[SR] Evgeniya Rodina vs. [2] Aryna Sabalenka

View Profile

Head-to-head: Sabalenka leads 2-0

Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka

is, of course, the other player who can lay claim to the hottest form of 2023. She has played one tournament since lifting a Grand Slam trophy for the first time, and saw her 13-match winning streak ended by Krejcikova in the Dubai quarterfinals. The pair could meet again in the fourth round in Indian Wells -- the only WTA 1000 event at which Sabalenka has yet to reach the quarterfinals (aside from 2022's inaugural Guadalajara tournament).

2023 highlights: Sabalenka, Adelaide 1 Champions Reel | Rodina d. Cornet, Indian Wells R1

Sabalenka has not played Evgeniya Rodina in over five years, since Tashkent 2017. In part, that's because Rodina was absent for three of those years, taking a second maternity leave from the tour. The 34-year-old returned at the US Open last year, and this is just the fifth event of her comeback. Nonetheless, the former World No.67 has shown that she's still capable of quality tennis, not least in her first-round win over Alizé Cornet.

Camila Giorgi (ITA) vs. [3] Jessica Pegula

View Profile (USA)

Head-to-head: Pegula leads 6-2 (including 3-2 on outdoor hard courts and 2-0 in 2022)

Jessica Pegula

's history with Camila Giorgi has been a wild ride. They've been facing off since their ITF days in 2011; in 2019, Pegula claimed her first WTA title by defeating the Italian in the Washington final. Giorgi upset Pegula in the 2021 Montréal semifinals, and went on to win the first WTA 1000 event of her career. And last year, Pegula came from match point down to beat Giorgi not once but twice, in the Madrid first round and Toronto third round. The American would go on to make the final and semifinal of those tournaments respectively.

Their past encounters have tended to be significant results, and their ninth meeting finds both in strong form. Pegula has continued to be one of the most consistent performers in the game this year, and her 13-4 record includes a fifth major quarterfinal at the Australian Open, a runner-up showing in Doha and a semifinal appearance in Doha. And while consistency has rarely been one of Giorgi's attributes, the 31-year-old hit one of her hot streaks two weeks ago to win her fourth career title in Merida.

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Champions Reel: How Camila Giorgi won Merida 2023

Linda Noskova

View Profile (CZE) vs. [31] Amanda Anisimova

View Profile (USA)

Head-to-head: 0-0

Back in 2018, Amanda Anisimova

made a splash on her Indian Wells debut. As a 16-year-old wild card ranked No.149, she took out and Petra Kvitova to reach the fourth round, impressing onlookers with her clean power and flawless timing.

Linda Noskova

View Profile makes her move on tour

The American is still only 21, but now she's the one facing a teenage sensation with clean power and flawless timing. Linda Noskova

was ranked No.239 one year ago, and the 18-year-old Czech cracked the Top 50 last month after a smooth transition from juniors to pros highlighted by a run to the Adelaide 1 final in January.

2023 highlights: Noskova d. Azarenka, Adelaide 1 QF | Noskova d. Jabeur, Adelaide 1 SF | Noskova d. Muguruza, Lyon R1 | Anisimova d. Samsonova, Adelaide 2 R1

Indian Wells is only Noskova's eighth tour-level main draw, and she's already got off to a fine start with a straight-sets win over Irina-Camelia Begu

in the first round.

[7] Maria Sakkari

View Profile (GRE) vs. Shelby Rogers (USA)

Head-to-head: Rogers leads 3-0 (including 2-0 on outdoor hard courts and 2-0 in 2022)

As documented in Netflix's Break Point, Maria Sakkari

's run to her first WTA 1000 final in Indian Wells last year was one in which the Greek player overcame self-doubt to take down names such as Petra Kvitova, and . Now, she's declared it her favourite tournament of the season.

2023 highlights: Sakkari d. Vekic, Linz QF | Sakkari d. Garcia, Doha QF | Rogers d. Volynets, Indian Wells R1

But Sakkari will be tested off the bat if she wants to repeat her 2022 performance. Shelby Rogers' career high is just No.30, and she is yet to win a WTA title. But the 30-year-old American has built a reputation as one of the tour's foremost upset artists, and her speciality is evicting seeds from the early rounds of a tournament -- as Sakkari knows well. Rogers owns seven career Top 10 wins and is unbeaten against Sakkari, having defeated her at Wimbledon 2021, Adelaide 2022 and San Jose 2022.

Also in action

No.6 seed Coco Gauff

View Profile has never lost before the third round in Indian Wells, and opens against Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa

View Profile . The World No.90 saved match point to upset at the Australian Open, and fended off seven set points across two sets to beat Katie Swan in her first round here.

No.9 seed Belinda Bencic

View Profile has won two tournaments this year already, Adelaide 2 and Abu Dhabi, and opens against Billie Jean King Cup teammate Jil Teichmann

View Profile . The Swiss compatriots have split two previous meetings.

No.17 seed Karolina Pliskova

View Profile , a two-time semifinalist in Indian Wells, starts against Anna Kalinskaya

View Profile -- to whom she lost their only previous encounter in Miami last year.

No.24 seed Jelena Ostapenko

View Profile reached her first hard-court major quarterfinal at the Australian Open in January, and will bid to improve her 4-1 head-to-head lead over Aliaksandra Sasnovich

View Profile .

No.27 seed Anhelina Kalinina

View Profile faces a stern test in the form of 17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova

View Profile . The Czech teenager demonstrated her signature grit in rebounding from a bagel set in the first round to defeat 0-6, 6-2, 6-3.

No.29 seed Donna Vekic

View Profile claimed her fourth career title in Monterrey last week. The Croat will bid to extend her winning streak to six against Hua Hin finalist Lesia Tsurenko

View Profile . Vekic has yet to progress beyond the second round of Indian Wells in seven previous appearances.

Alex Macpherson