Canada's Bouchard crashes out of Indian Wells

Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, who three years ago appeared destined for tennis stardom, took another step backward with an early loss at the BNP Paribas Open here

The 23-year-old Bouchard, a former top-five player who is currently ranked No. 53, won the opening set of her first-round match against Germany's Annika Beck on Thursday but she was unable to maintain that high level and fell 6-3, 2-6, 2-6.

Next up for Beck in the second round will be 26th-ranked Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic, reports Efe.

In other first-round women's singles action Thursday, Spanish qualifier Sara Sorribes Tormo advanced with an impressive 6-4, 6-2 victory over 36th-ranked Russian Ekaterina Makarova.

The 20-year-old Sorribes topped the two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist in just one hour and 19 minutes and will next face Polish world No. 6 Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round.

In men's singles action Thursday at this hard-court event, another promising 20-year-old, Russia's Karen Khachanov, kicked off his Indian Wells campaign in style with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Spanish veteran Tommy Robredo.

--IANS

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