With the Women’s Main Draw announced on Monday, the only details remaining are the qualifiers who gain entry into the championship bracket. As the gates opened on Tuesday at Indian Wells Tennis Garden for the BNP Paribas Open, Nicole Gibbs (Santa Monica) was the last remaining hope for #TeamSoCal. Having won her first round quali match, Gibbs opposed Zarina Diyas, the #10 seed.

Playing her fourth of five consecutive tournaments on U.S. soil (including Newport Beach, Rancho Santa Fe, and an Indian Wells tune-up), Gibbs was up for the battle as the two reached a first set tiebreaker. Diyas prevailed, then later matched Gibbs game for game – sometimes break for break – before securing a 7-6(4), 7-5 win over the American to dash #TeamSoCal’s aspirations in the women’s singles draw.

With Coco Vandeweghe on the shelf with injury, there will be no Southern California women in the main draw when it kicks off tomorrow, with Naomi Osaka as the top seed and defending champion. Both Venus and Serena Williams are back in Indian Wells to headline our remaining USA hopefuls.

On the Men’s side, Thousand Oaks’ Marcos Giron looked strong in his first set in the opening qualifying round, then lost the momentum before locking down a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Thomas Fabbiano to move ahead. He meets Miomir Kecmanovic, the #25 seed, on Wednesday. Credit Giron, the former UCLA star and NCAA singles champion, with five unanswered aces in the match. Interestingly, Giron and Fabbiano evenly split 160 points played in the match.

JC Aragone (Yorba Linda) makes his 2019 BNP debut this evening against #20 Henri Laaksonen.

Afternoon play was interrupted briefly by a passing shower, and forecasters indicate a few raindrops may return on Wednesday. This will not deter USTA Southern California and our daily coverage of the 2019 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, available at USTAsocal.com and on all of our social media platforms.