GB’s Kartal and Fearnley progress at Indian Wells

Britons Sonay Kartal and Jacob Fearnley both progressed to the second round at Indian Wells with straight-set wins.

The 24-year-old Kartal defeated Thailand’s Lanlana Tararudee 6-4 6-4 to set up a meeting with American 20th seed Emma Navarro.

But it was far from straightforward for the British number two, who battled back impressively from a 4-2 deficit in both sets to win in one hour and 48 minutes.

Fearnley, the British men’s number three, will face American seventh seed Taylor Fritz next after the 24-year-old defeated Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur 6-3 6-3.

However, fellow Briton Fran Jones suffered a straight-set loss to American qualifier Kayla Day, who completed a 6-3 6-1 win to set up a meeting with Poland’s world number two Iga Swiatek.

There was an eighth consecutive singles loss for seven-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one Venus Williams.

American Williams, 45, has not won since she became the second oldest woman to win a WTA Tour-level singles match by beating Peyton Stearns at the Washington Open last July.

Making her 10th appearance at Indian Wells, and first since 2024, the 554th-ranked Williams was beaten 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 by French world number 111 Diane Parry, who will play American 15th seed Madison Keys in the second round.

Williams, who has now experienced opening-round exits in her last five tournaments, felt the windy conditions in California played a part in the defeat.

“Today is not the kind of day that you want to assess. The conditions were impossible,” she said.