WASHINGTON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- China's Wang Yafan lost to Sofia Kenin of the United States in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California on Wednesday.

Wang had defeated Kenin four days previously to win her first WTA women's singles crown at the Mexico Open.

The 24-year-old Chinese took control of the opening set and won it 6-1, but Kenin, backed by a boisterous home crowd, clawed back to take the next two sets before claiming a hard-fought victory 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and 35 minutes.

Kenin's reward will be a second round match against sixth seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.