<p>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. <br /><br /></p>.<p>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. <br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />The 10th-seeded Schiavone withdrew because of a stomach virus when trailing Safarova 2-6. <br /><br />Djokovic progresses<br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br /></p>
<p>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. <br /><br /></p>.<p>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. <br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />The 10th-seeded Schiavone withdrew because of a stomach virus when trailing Safarova 2-6. <br /><br />Djokovic progresses<br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br />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. <br /><br /></p>
