WASHINGTON, March 7 (Xinhua) -- China's Zhang Shuai and her Australian partner Samantha Stosur lost to Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands and Donna Vekic of Croatia in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open held in Indian Wells, California on Thursday.

Zhang and Stosur, who together won the Australian Open women's doubles title, lost to their opponents 7-6(3), 7-5 in one hour and 26 minutes.

Zhang and Stosur, seeded sixth in the tournament, made more unforced errors compared to their opponents and dropped some big points when it mattered.

Stosur also lost in the first round at the women's singles event while Zhang reached the second round.

The BNP Paribas Open will end on March 17.