Saturday 11 March 2017 13:25, UK
Johanna Konta defeated fellow Briton Heather Watson in straight sets as the pair met for the first time on the WTA Tour, at Indian Wells.
Konta, the British No 1 and 11th seed, moved into the third round of the BNP Paribas Open with a 6-4 6-4 win on Stadium 1.
Their only previous meeting came four years ago in a second-tier event in Barnstaple which saw Watson retire injured after losing the first four games.
This time it reached a proper conclusion and Konta, ranked 97 places above her opponent, made her quality tell despite some tough moments.
Watson won the first two games of the match and put together three in a row at the death as Konta threatened to wobble, but there were too many mistakes of her own littered through the 94-minute encounter.
Watson double-faulted on nine occasions and at times grew visibly frustrated at her lack of control.
She was broken on five occasions in all, edged out of the first set then faced with a formidable 5-1 scoreline in the second.
The match appeared lost at that moment but Watson produced her best tennis of the day to take things deep, serving to love twice in a row and breaking in between.
The momentum finally gave way at the crucial moment and, following a good rally at match point, Watson failed to clear the net as Konta won through.
Karolina Pliskova breathed a sigh of relief after storming back to beat Olympic champion Monica Puig in the second round.
Puig comfortably won the first set and looked like sending Pliskova packing before the third seed completed a hard-fought 1-6 6-4 6-4 victory.
Czech Republic's Pliskova will play Irina Camelia Begu in round three after the Romanian beat America's Louisa Chirico 6-1 7-5.
Dominika Cibulkova also survived a scare against world No 64 Jelena Ostapenko to secure her third-round place in three sets.
Fifth seed Cibulkova was made to work by the Latvian but eventually triumphed 6-4 3-6 6-3 after a battle which lasted over two hours.
Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded eighth, had an easier evening in beating Sweden's Johanna Larsson 7-6 (7/3) 6-4.
Seventh seed Garbine Muguruza also impressed by winning 6-2 6-3 against Kirsten Flipkens and Kristyna Pliskova, twin sister of Karolina, overcame Daria Kasatkina 6-0 6-3.
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