IN-FORM American talent McCartney Kessler crushed first round Indian Wells opponent Anna Blinkova en route to the Round of 64, only dropping three games in a 62-minute domination. Kessler was initially forced to qualify for the WTA1000 event after a tough schedule turnaround between the Texas and California tournaments but continued her remarkable run in the desert.

Kessler reached both the singles and doubles finals at the ATX Open which meant nine matches on court down in the Deep South, then due to Indian Wells’ entry rankings being decided prior to her run to that WTA500 title, the 25-year-old was forced to qualify for the main draw. However, as luck would have it, she would earn a special exemption to start in the first round.

She made sure she deserved to be there with an eye-catching 6-1 6-2 rout that lasted an hour and two minutes, with the first set going just 26 minutes. The American hit a whopping 21 winners to just two, while only committing three more unforced errors (15-12), converting six of nine break point chances, while only conceding one game on her serve.

While Kessler clearly had the power over Blinkova, she was also not afraid to dig deep in long rallies, winning 12 of 15 points that went 10 or more shots within the match, while just as easily claiming 63 per cent of any short rallies (within three shots). The now world number 47 will face the toughest of challenges up next, taking on world number one, Aryna Sabalenka in the Round of 64.

It was a relatively good day for the Americans, with former Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin leading the charge into the Round of 64. She was joined there by Catherine McNally, while three more Americans were either in action or about to take the court at the time of publishing.

From the Aussies, qualifier Kimberly Birrell stamped her ticket into the second round with a 6-4 6-4 triumph over Viktorija Golubic, though fellow qualifiers Maya Joint and Maddison Inglis both bowed out in straight sets, while Ajla Tomljanovic was forced to retire after the first set in her loss to McNally.

The other big news was British lucky loser Sonay Kartal making the most of her second chance with a 7-6 6-2 victory over American qualifier Varvara Lepchenko, while the most famous lucky loser Eva Lys will have her chance to repeat history when she takes the court in Round 2, replacing Spanish seed Paula Badosa who had to withdraw due to a lower back injury.