BNP Paribas live Thursday: Raducanu, Wozniacki advance; another withdrawal on men's side

It's March and that means the BNP Paribas Open is underway at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Celebrating its 50th year, the event remains the largest two-week combined WTA and ATP tournament outside of the four Grand Slams. We'll be chronicling the action on and off the court daily in Indian Wells as nearly all of the top 75 men's and women's players put on a show for the next two weeks.

• Ultimate guide to tennis paradise: Tickets, food, schedules and more

• How to watch from home: TV schedule for the 2024 tournament

• Thursday's Order of Play: Revised schedule

• Don't miss these stars: 10 must-watch players in Indian Wells

• While you're in town: Palm Springs area bucket list of must-do adventures, dining excursions

Thursday BNP Paribas Open results: Emma Raducanu wins, Venus Williams ousted

Emma Raducanu, the 21-year-old Brit, who burst on the scene with an unlikely U.S. Open win in 2021, won with some ease Thursday morning, topping Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 6-3 to move into the second round where she will face the No. 30 seed Dayana Yastremska on Saturday.

American Danielle Collins who was leading her match with Erika Andreeva 7-6, 6-5 when it was postponed by rain, spent about 15 minutes on the court Thursday, earning a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (6) win. She will now face world No. 1 Iga Swiatek on Friday.

Venus Williams led Nao Hibino of Japan 6-2, 3-2 and then the 29-year-old Hibino flipped the script. Hibino, inexplicably, won the final 10 games of the match for a stunning 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 win over the 43-year-old Williams.

In the men's draw, fan favorite Stan Wawrinka was eliminated by Toma Machac of the Czech Republic 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-2 in a match that took more than two hours.

Other women's results Thursday:

• Katerina Siniakova defeated Greet Minnen 7-5, 7-6 (3)

• Lucia Bronzetti defeated Madalena Frech 6-2, 6-4

• Clara Burel defeated Xiyu Wang 4-6, 6-2, 6-4

• Nuria Parrizas Diaz defeated McCartney Kessler 6-3, 7-6 (3)

• Nadia Podoroska defeated Ashlyn Krueger 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

• Anna Blinkova defeated Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 2-6, 6-4

• Hailey Baptiste defeated Robin Montgomery 6-2, 4-6, 6-1

Other men's results Thursday:

• Lorenzo Sonego defeated Miomir Kicmanovic 7-6 (3), 6-4

• Aleksandar Vukic defeated Shintaro Mochizuki 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6)

• Dusan Lajovic defeated Emil Ruusuvuori 7-5, 6-2

• Constant Lestienne defeated Denis Kudla 3-6, 6-2, 6-4

• Lucas Pouille defeated Daniel Altamaier 6-4, 6-3

• Gael Monfils defeated Max Purcell 6-1, 6-2

• Roman Safiullin defeated Dan Evans 6-1, 5-7, 6-2

• Jakub Mensik defeated Seongchan Hong 6-3, 6-4

Tomas Etcheverry, the No. 30 seed at the BNP Paribas Open, has withdrawn

Tomas Etcheverry, an Argentine tennis player and the No. 30 seed at Indian Wells, has withdrawn from the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday afternoon with a right hamstring injury.

Etcheverry, whose first match was set for Saturday, was replaced in the field by lucky loser Luca Nardi of Italy. Nardi will face the winner of a match later today between Aleksander Kovacevi and Zhizhen Zhang. Etcheverry was in Novak Djokovic's part of the draw, meaning Djokovic now won't face a seeded player until the fourth round.

Etcheverry is the fourth player to withdraw from the event, joining Rafael Nadal and Alexei Popyrin in the men's field and Paula Badosa in the women's draw.

Thursday's schedule altered by Wednesday rain: Osaka, Raducanu, Venus Williams highlight slate

With 14 matches, including 10 that never started, pushed from Wednesday night into Thursday because of a rare evening of showers in the desert, the schedule of the second day of the BNP Paribas Open is jam-packed.

The conclusion of the first round will include previously scheduled stars such as Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu as well as players like Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki whose matches were pushed from Wednesday to Thursday.

The Stadium 1 slate now looks like this: Stan Wawrinka faces Tomas Machac at 11 a.m. followed by the resumption of the Venus Williams vs. Nao Hibino match, which will be followed by Naomi Osaka vs. Sara Errani. The night session will be Milos Raonic vs. Sumit Nagal who replaces Rafael Nadal at 6 p.m., followed by Viktoriya Tomova vs. Sofia Kenin.

Stadium 2 starts with Emma Raducanu vs. Rebeka Masarova at 11 a.m. followed by the resumption of the match between Caroline Wozniacki and Lin Zhu.

Eight doubles matches that had been scheduled for Thursday were moved to Friday to make room for all the Wednesday matches that had to be moved to Thursday.

More: BNP Paribas Open: Revised Thursday order of play includes Osaka, Venus Williams

Refund available due to Rafael Nadal's withdrawal

When news circulated Wednesday afternoon that Rafael Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam champion and three-time winner in Indian Wells, was forced to withdraw due to an injury, the BNP Paribas Open decided to offer a refund.

Patrons who bought their Thursday night session tickets from the BNP Paribas Open can get a refund now that Nadal will not be playing. To enquire about a refund, go to bnpparibasopen.com/contact or call 800-999-1585.

Rafael Nadal withdraws from 2024 BNP Paribas Open

The night session on Stadium 1 now features the matchup between Milos Raonic and Nadal's replacement Sumit Nagal of India, whose last name is strangely similar to Nadal's. That match will be followed by a women's match featuring Sofia Kenin, who won the 2020 Australian Open, against Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria.

Carlos Alcaraz honing his English with tutoring, TV and movies

Returning BNP Paribas Open champion Carlos Alcaraz of Spain spoke with reporters Wednesday about continuing to work on speaking English while simultaneously working on his game.

Though he is not yet 21, Alcaraz has already won each of the three big American tournaments, in Indian Wells, Miami and the U.S. Open.

“I think I’m getting better with my English,” the Spanish tennis star said with a chuckle. “I’m feeling more comfortable in interviews and talking with the people. Yeah, I’m working on it. It’s difficult sometimes to find time. It’s so busy during the tournaments and the different hours, it’s difficult.

"But when I can, I try to make classes with a teacher in Spain that has helped me out to feel better about it. It’s important. Of course, I’m watching series in English, movies in English and I think that helps a lot.”

Alcaraz, 20, is seeking to become the first back-to-back winner at Indian Wells since Novak Djokovic in 2016.

– Andrew L. John

Cover girl: Coco Gauff graces Time, Vogue covers

American star Coco Gauff has found herself in two high-end magazines of late with a fashionable cover shoot for "Vogue" and as one of the honorees of Time Magazine's Women of the Year issue.

Gauff, who attended the Time Women of the Year gala on Tuesday night in Hollywood, said she's proud of being a part of both endeavors but couldn't quite decide which one gave her the most pride.

"I don't think one means more than the other to me because it's two aspects of my life that I really care about," said the 19-year-old Gauff. "In 'Vogue' being in the world of fashion and beauty which is something I've always cared about and then 'Time' focusing more on the off-court core issues as far as trying to make the world a better place which is also something that I care about. So maybe 'Time' is more influential because of the platform that 'Time' has created to help uplift social activism and uplift causes that I deeply care about. I don't know, it's hard to put one over the other but being on the Woman of the Year list is something I never expected, but I guess neither did I expect to be in 'Vogue.'"

— Shad Powers

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: BNP Paribas Open: Raducanu, Wozniacki advance; another withdrawal