Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark returns a shot against Sloane Stephens of the U.S. during their match at the Indian Wells WTA tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, March 12, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Danny Moloshok
INDIAN WELLS, California |
INDIAN WELLS, California (Reuters) - Top seed Caroline Wozniacki barely raised a sweat as she pummeled American wildcard Sloane Stephens 6-3 6-2 in the second round of the Indian Wells WTA tournament on Saturday.
The Danish world number one, who lost to Serb Jelena Jankovic in last year's final at Indian Wells, broke Stephens twice in the first set and three times in the second to wrap up victory in just over an hour.
China's seventh-seeded Li Na, however, was eliminated 4-6 6-3 6-3 by compatriot Peng Shuai and 11th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia was ousted 7-6 7-6 by 18-year-old American wildcard Christina McHale.
It was the third successive tournament where Australian Open runner-up Li has lost her opening match but the first time she had been beaten by Peng in four meetings.
Wozniacki ended her match against Stephens with a crisp forehand volley into an open court and will next meet 28th-seeded Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who beat Romania's Simona Halep 7-5 6-0.
"I feel good," the 20-year-old Dane told reporters. "It's always nice to have a win, and the first match is difficult. But I pulled through, so it's nice."
Asked if she had any concerns over her form, the pony-tailed Wozniacki replied: "I felt like the timing was not quite there yet but Sloane, she took her chances. She played well.
"I would just like to go match by match and try to develop my game," added the bubbly Dane, who won her 13th WTA title at last month's Dubai championships.
TUMBLED OUT
Earlier, twice former champion Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia tumbled out of the tournament after being beaten 7-6 6-4 by Russian former world number one Dinara Safina.
The hard-hitting Russian won an error-prone opening set, featuring six breaks of serve in the first eight games, and wrapped up the match by breaking her 26th-seeded opponent in the 10th game of the second.
"It definitely feels good," Safina told reporters after improving her career record against Hantuchova to 7-4. "Every win is important. I was trying very hard and fighting.
"She had two set points in the first set. I pulled them out, and then I started to play a little bit better. I'm really happy with the win today."
Safina, who has slipped to 108th in the rankings after being troubled by a back injury last year, will next face fourth-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur who swept past Spaniard Laura Pous-Tio 6-2 6-2.
In other second-round matches, eighth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus beat Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-4 6-3 while 16th-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova scraped through 7-5 6-7 6-1 against Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues.
Italy's 13th seed Flavia Pennetta battled past Britain's Elena Baltacha 6-4 3-6 6-4 and Czech Lucie Hradecka upset 27th-seeded Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru 4-6 6-4 6-4.
(Editing by Frank Pingue/John O'Brien)
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