Women's, Men's Qualifying Play Set for BNP Paribas Open

Women’s singles qualifying play for the 2015 BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament concludes Tuesday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, while men’s qualifying play begins.

The winners of each of Tuesday’s 12 women’s singles qualifying matches will earn berths in the 96-player main draw.

Lauren Embree and Julia Boserup are the only Americans remaining in the women’s qualifying. Embree, a former University of Florida standout, will face 12th-seeded Daria Gavrilova of Russia in the third match on the Stadium 2 court.

Embree was leading Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan, 6-2, 5-2, Monday when the 44-year-old Date-Krumm retired from her match because of injury. Date-Krumm first played in this tournament in 1991, the year Embree was born.

Embree received a wild card spot into the 48-player qualifying draw because she were ranked too low to otherwise play in qualifying.

Boserup will face Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in the opening match on the Stadium 2 court. Boserup defeated 24th-seeded Richel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands, 7-5, 7-6 (6), on Monday.

The other wild card entrants in the qualifying draw, Americans Allie Kiick and Jessica Pegula, both lost on Monday.

Kiick, the 19-year-old daughter of Jim Kiick, a running back on the Miami Dolphins’ undefeated 1972 team, lost to sixth-seeded Timea Babos of Hungary, 6-3, 6-2.

Pegula, the 21-year-daughter of Terry Pegula, the owner of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, lost to Shahar Peer of Israel, 6-0, 6- 2.

Peer was denied a visa in 2009 to play in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships after tournament organizers expressed concern that her presence would antagonize fans because of Israel’s invasion of Gaza. Protests had occurred when Peer played in a tournament earlier that year in Auckland, New Zealand.

Polona Hercog of Slovenia, the highest ranked player in qualifying, 75th on the Women’s Tennis Association singles rankings issued Monday, defeated former USC standout Maria Sanchez, 6-3, 7-5.

The other American in the women’s qualifying draw, Samantha Crawford, lost to second-seeded Maria-Teresa Tooro-Flor of Spain, 6-0, 6-3.

The highest-ranked player in the men’s qualifying draw is Borna Coric of Croatia, who was 60th in the rankings issued Monday by the Association of Tennis Professional. He’ll face Artem Smirnov of Ukraine, who received a wild card berth into the qualifying, in the third match on the Stadium 3 court.

There are 10 Americans in the men’s qualifying draw, including 17-year- old Taylor Harry Fritz, the son of former College of the Desert coach Guy Fritz and Kathy May Fritz, a former top 10 player on the women’s circuit. Fritz will play Dudi Sela of Israel in the second match on the Stadium 2 court.

Women’s main draw play will begin Wednesday and men’s main draw play Thursday.

– City News Service.