GB's Boulter hits back to beat Begu at Indian Wells

Katie Boulter had not played since the Australian Open in mid-January

British number one Katie Boulter recovered from a set down to beat Irina-Camelia Begu in the second round at Indian Wells.

The Romanian won the first set in a tie-break but Boulter then took charge to win 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-0 in California.

Boulter, 28, is playing just her third tournament of the year and had a bye in the first round while Begu, ranked 74 in the world, beat Ann Li of the USA.

Boulter will face a much sterner test in the third round when she plays Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina, with the seventh seed having beaten Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands 6-3 6-3.

Boulter has dropped to 38 in the world rankings, having not played since January's Australian Open because of a foot injury.

"Two weeks ago I was in a boot, I was not really playing tennis at all," she told BBC Sport.

"I was trying to keep my eye in by sitting on a box and hitting some volleys but that's the extent of where we've been out on the tennis court.

"To get through today it really shows how much I have fought to get through these last few weeks and how much I have been pushing myself to get back out here. It feels worth it now that at least I got one win under the belt. We'll see how the foot reacts and go from there."

Elsewhere, there were straight-set wins for Poland's Iga Swiatek and American Jessica Pegula, the second and fourth seeds respectively in the women's draw.

Swiatek defeated France's Caroline Garcia 6-2 6-0 while Pegula - who won the ATX Open in Austin earlier this month - beat Magda Linette of Poland 6-4 6-2.

Tunisia's former world number two Ons Jabeur was beaten 6-3 6-1 by Dayana Yastremska, while there were victories for the Ukrainian's compatriots Marta Kostyuk and Elina Svitolina.

Kostyuk, the 18th seed, beat American Robin Montgomery 6-1 6-3 while Svitolina thanked the crowd for their support of her country in her on-court interview following a 6-1 6-7 (8-10) 6-3 win over another American, Ashlyn Krueger.

"I want to thank you for your support of Ukraine," said the former Wimbledon semi-finalist. "It's nice to get these little wins for Ukraine."

Australian Open champion Madison Keys, top seed Aryna Sabalenka and world number three Coco Gauff play their second-round matches on Saturday.

Also in action is Britan's Sonay Kartal, who will play 16th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil.