JOIN USPetrova packs off Stosur
US Open champion Sam Stosur made a premature exit at the Indian Wells WTA tournament on Monday while Maria Sharapova and defending champion Caroline Wozniacki both advanced.
Sixth-seeded Stosur lost a see-sawing third round encounter with Russian Nadia Petrova 6-1, 6-7, 7-6 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, before Sharapova finally wrapped up a 6-3, 6-4 win against Romania's Simona Halep on the fifth match point.
In the final match of the day, Denmark's Wozniacki recovered from a shaky opening set to battle past Swede Sofia Arvidsson 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 after a fluctuating tussle lasting two hours and 37 minutes.
Australian Stosur was broken by Petrova when serving for the match at 6-5 in the third set and the Russian capitalised by holding her serve and sealing a victory 7-5 in the tiebreak.
Stosur had been swept aside by her big-serving opponent in the opening set and then saved one match point in the second set tiebreak before clawing her way back to level the match.
Petrova, beaten 7-6, 6-7, 7-5 by Stosur at last year's US Open in the tournament's longest women's match of the tiebreak era, squealed with delight after the Australian pushed a forehand wide to end an encounter lasting close to three hours. The Russian face compatriot Maria Kirilenko, who beat Spaniard Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
Sharapova, the 2006 champion, led Halep 6-3 and 5-0 before inexplicably losing her way. The Romanian held for 1-5 and the Russian then squandered three match points on serve before being broken in the seventh and ninth games.
After several protracted baseline rallies punctuated by squeals and grunts by both players, second seed Sharapova finally sealed victory on her fifth match point when Halep netted a backhand. Sharapova will next face Italy's Roberta Vinci, a 6-7, 6-0, 6-4 winner against Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova.
In other matches, seventh-seed Marion Bartoli of France pummeled South African Chanelle Scheepers 6-2, 6-0 and Czech Lucie Safarova advanced when former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone became the latest victim of the widespread viral infection at Indian Wells.
The 10th-seeded Schiavone withdrew because of a stomach virus when trailing Safarova 2-6.
Djokovic progresses
Novak Djokovic blunted the power serving of South African Kevin Anderson to reach the fourth round of the men’s competition while Mardy Fish was upset by Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden.
World number one Djokovic broke the towering Anderson twice in a marathon opening set and once in the second to triumph 6-2, 6-3 in one hour, 37 minutes to set up a clash with Pablo Andujar, a 7-6, 6-4 winner over Albert Ramos.
Fish, runner-up here in 2008, was upset 6-3, 6-4 by Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden in a match where the American was slapped with a hindrance call in the second set after he shouted "Come on" during a rally.
Fish, runner-up here in 2008, was upset 6-3 6-4 by Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden in a match where the American was slapped with a hindrance call in the second set after he shouted "Come on" during a rally.
Ebden, will next meet big-serving American John Isner, who powered past Argentina's Juan Monaco 7-5, 7-5 earlier in the day while Frenchman Gilles Simon beat Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-4.