Sharapova advances at Indian Wells
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-13 08:35

Reigning Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova hit two aces and hammered 15 winners to beat Angela Haynes 6-1, 6-2 to reach the third round of the Indian Wells WTA/ATP Masters Series event.

Maria Sharapova of Russia returns to Angela Haynes of the USA during the Pacific Life Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California. Sharapova won the match 6-1, 6-2.[AFP]

The 17-year-old Russian, who has already won two WTA titles this year, had six backhand winners to Haynes' none in the 67-minute match.

The women's field at the 4.8 million dollar event is wide open this year with top seed Lindsay Davenport, France's Amelie Mauresmo, third seed Sharapova, US Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova and unseeded Belgium Kim Clijsters all a threat for the title.

Haynes had three double faults and made 27 unforced errors. A sloppily-played first set featured five service breaks in seven games.

The turning point of the match was when Sharapova broke Haynes in the sixth game of the second set to go up 4-2.

"The first match is never easy. You don't know what to expect," Sharapova said.

"I don't play against too many girls ranked ahead of me because I am number three in the world so they have nothing to lose."

"But I got a bit of a groove going and then I broke her three times in the first set. I took a chance and went for it on her third serving game in the second set and it paid off."

Sharapova had a breakout season in 2004 establishing her as a top level contender and compiling a 55-15 record. This is her fourth consecutive appearance at Indian Wells and she is hoping to improve on her round of 16 result here last year.

Meghann Shaughnessy advanced to the third round by beating fellow American Shikha Uberoi 7-5, 6-1.

In the men's draw, Spain's Tommy Robredo stopped Gael Monfils, of France, 6-3, 6-1 and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland defeated Peru's Luis Horna 6-0, 7-6 (7/1).

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