Hingis, Sharapova reach Indian Wells third round

INDIAN WELLS, California, Mar 10 (Reuters) Former champion Martina Hingis cruised but top seed Maria Sharapova had to work a little harder to secure opening victories in the women's event at the Pacific Life Open.

Hingis booked her place in the third round with a 6-1 6-3 trouncing of Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki while Sharapova rattled up 10 double-faults before beating Dutch player Michaella Krajicek 7-6 6-4 yesterday.

Tournament winner in 1998 and twice a runner-up at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Hingis broke her opponent three times in the opening set before clinching victory in less than an hour.

''I tried to do some (different) things out there, come in more,'' third seed Hingis told reporters as she remained on course for a possible semi-final clash with world number one Sharapova.

''I won a lot of points at the net and that is satisfying.

Hopefully I can bring that in against the top players as well.

''It's getting easer. When I needed it today, I came in and made some faster points.'' The world number six, who claimed her 43rd WTA Tour singles title at last month's Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, is determined to retain her top-10 ranking by the end of the year.

''If I can earn my spot up there and put some pressure on the higher-ranked players, then that's the only way I can succeed,'' the 26-year-old said.

EVEN HAPPIER ''And if I can occasionally win some more tournaments, I'll be even happier.'' Sharapova, competing for the first time since being forced to retire with a hamstring injury midway through her Pan Pacific Open semi-final against Serbia's Ana Ivanovic in Tokyo last month, looked particularly rusty in the first set.

''I've been out of competition for the last five weeks and I didn't know what to expect,'' said the 19-year-old U.S. Open champion, who crushed fellow Russian Elena Dementieva 6-1 6-2 in last year's final.

''I've just got to keep improving and get the rust off.'' Hingis and Sharapova were among several seeded players who won their second-round matches on Friday.

Seventh seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia brushed aside American Shenay Perry 6-1 6-3 and Israel's Shahar Peer, the 11th seed, knocked out China's Sun Tiantian 6-3 6-0.

Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova, the 2002 champion at Indian Wells and seeded 14th this year, was given a tougher workout before beating Estonia's Kaia Kanepi 6-2 2-6 6-1.

REUTERS SAM BST1137