News day 2: Sloane Stephens Advance to Second Round. BNP Paribas Open

Monica Niculescu was the first player on Wednesday to complete her match, defeating Aleksandra Krunic 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open. 

“The score looks bad, but it was long rallies and I had to fight for every point,” Niculescu said. “She doesn’t give you mistakes. I was playing aggressive coming to the net. She’s an awesome player. It was our first meeting and I knew it would be tough.” Now comes the tough one. Niculescu will next face No. 1 Serena Williams on Friday night in prime time on the Tennis Channel. 
This will be the first time Niculescu will face Williams. Friday night will be the return of Williams to the BNP Paribas Open since she defeated Kim Clijsters for the 2001 title. Williams has an 11-match winning streak and is coming off winning the U.S. Open, the WTA Tour Championships and the Australian Open. Niculescu was ranked as high as No. 28 in 2012 and her best result in a major was the fourth round of the 2011 US Open. She has never gotten past the second round of the BNP Paribas Open. “I always wanted to play No. 1 and Serena is an awesome player,” Niculescu said. “It’s going to be an awesome day palying against Serena. Hopefully I will step up and play good. “I know when we were playing doubles, she was hitting hard and very good mentally. I’m going to try to play my game and I hope the crowd will be for me also. It’s a good opportunity for me. “Hopefully I will like it at the end of the match too.” In the last match of the day, Sloane Stephens fought from a break down in the second set to beat Chanelle Scheepers 7-5, 7-5. 
The American reached the quarterfinals here last year, falling to Flavia Pennetta. Donna Vekic is also through to the second round, defeating American Louisa Chirico 6-4, 6-3. Vekic moves on to face 28th-seeded Zarina Diyas. Heather Watson survived a three-set tussle with Julia Goerges, beating the German 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in two hours and 25 minutes. The Briton advances to a second-round contest with No. 29 seed Camila Giorgi.