The second match on Sunday night at the BNP Paribas Open was called off seconds before it was set to start because qualifier Lesia Tsurenko withdrew from her match against the No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Two hours prior to the match, 33-year-old Ukrainian Tsurenko was spotted warming up and practicing her serve on a practice court. Had “personal reasons” for retiring, according to the tournament’s official statement. The fans shouldn’t have been surprised, even though they were. Tsurenko has left a tournament in the middle eight times in her last 15 competitions; this doesn’t count her withdrawal from the qualifying rounds of the BNP Paribas Open last year. Nevertheless, many thought that the “personal reason” was she didn’t want to share the court with a Belarussian player.
Tsurenko in Indian Wells, ranking, and results in 2023
LWWWLLLLLL Now the world no.95, Lesya has managed to achieve an overall 18-4 match record in 2023. Lesya is currently having a run in Indian Wells where she overcame the world no.123 Taylor Townsend 6-75 6-1 6-1, the world no.151 Katie Boulter 6-3 6-74 6-4, the world no.33 Lin Zhu 6-4 6-3 and the world no.23 Donna Vekic 2-6 6-2 6-2.
Sabalenka in Indian Wells, ranking, and results in 2023
WWWWWLWWWW Ranked world no.2 (career-high), Sabalenka owns a 14-1 match record in 2023. Aryna is participating in Indian Wells where she toppled the world no.427 Evgeniya Rodina 6-2 6-0 and the world no.95 Lesya Tsurenko w/o.
Aryna Sabalenka will compete against the world no.16 Barbora Krejcikova in the 4th round. Their actual head to head record is 2-1 for Sabalenka.
The Belarussian conquered 2 titles in 2023 in Adelaide and Australian Open.
The Belarussian won 12 titles in her career: 9 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts and 2 on indoor courts. (See the list of her titles)
Sabalenka is scheduled to compete next in Miami (Miami Open). She will start to play the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 21st of March.
Lesya Tsurenko and Aryna Sabalenka fought against each other only on 2 occasions. The head to head is 1-1. Previously, the last time they played, Aryna Sabalenka won 6-2 7-5 in the 3rd round in Indian Wells (BNP Paribas Open) in March 2019.
