MINSK, 7 March (BelTA) – Belarus' world number 138 Egor Gerasimov has failed to come through the qualifying round at the Indian Wells Masters, BelTA has learned.
The Belarusian lost to world number 101 Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 4-6, 4-6 in the second qualifying round. In the opener Egor Gerasimov beat Russia's Evgeny Donskoy (World No.122) 6-3, 6-3.
Belarus' world number 96 Ilya Ivashka will start the tournament against Argentine's world number 88 Guido Andreozzi in the first-round meeting of the main draw.
In the women's event, Belarus' world number 48 Victoria Azarenka downed her compatriot Vera Lapko (World No.62) to set a second-round clash with world number ten Serena Williams of the United States. The two played each other 21 times, with Azarenka going 4-17 against Williams. They last met in the 2016 Indian Wells final, with the Belarusian celebrating victory.
World number nine Aryna Sabalenka and world number 34 Aliaksandra Sasnovich will start their BNP Paribas Open campaign in the second round. Aliaksandra Sasnovich will face Ukraine's world number 114 Kateryna Kozlova. Aryna Sabalenka will play either Australia's world number 44 Ajla Tomljanovic or France's world number 52 Alize Cornet.
