Alison Riske won the all-US Indian Wells opener on Wednesday, taking just 80 minutes to beat qualifier Caty McNally 6-0, 6-3.
Riske saved seven break points on serve to control the match, converting half of her 10 break opportunities in what proved to be a comfortable win.
“I’m a big supporter of Caty’s,” Riske said afterwards.
“Not only is she a good tennis player, she’s a great person, and I love the way she carries herself on the court. There are only good things to come for Caty. It’s always tough playing another American, but I’m thrilled to get through.”
Riske will play No. 8 seed Garbine Muguruza in the second round.
“She’s tough,” Riske said of her next opponent.
“It will be a challenging match, but I feel like if I focus on what I need to do, good things can happen.”
Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska, who recently made it to the final in Lyon after fleeing her country by boat, lost her opening round clash France’s Caroline Garcia 6-4, 6-7 (8), 7-5.
Americans Claire Liu and Katie Volynets were also first-round winners, along with Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi, Croatia’s Petra Martic, Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova, Japan’s Misaki Doi, Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic, China’s Qinwen Zheng, Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina, Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic and Great Britain’s Harriet Dart.
