Sesil Karatancheva and Alisa Kleybanova both made winning WTA Tour debuts on the first day of the Pacific Life Open. Karatancheva, 14, defeated Alexandra Stevenson 6-2 2-6 6-1 while Kleybanova, also 14, saw off Croatia's Jelena Kostanic 2-6 6-0 7-5.
"I am so excited this is something I really wanted to do," said Karatancheva of Bulgaria.
Kleybanova now plays 10th seed Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi while Karatancheva moves on to face 17th seed Magui Serna.
"I have no idea who that is," said Karatancheva , when told she would be playing Serna.
"It doesn't matter to me who I play. I play the way I know I can that is good enough for me."
 Benesova won her first WTA Tour title in Acapulco last week |
Iveta Benesova also reached the second round in Indian Wells on Wednesday, beating Emmanuelle Gagliardi 6-3 2-6 6-0. The Czech, who won her first WTA Tour title in Acapulco last week, had to go through the qualifying round to get into the 96-player main draw.
America's Laura Granville beat Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand, while France's Tatiana Golovin was too good for Japan's Shinobu Asagoe.
Spain's Gala Leon Garcia and Puerto Rico's Kristina Brandi also won.
MMIX
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