Daniela Hantuchova made a confident start to the defence of her Pacific Life Open title with an easy win over Angela Haynes.
Two-time champion encounters little difficulty in second round
Daniela Hantuchova made a confident start to the defence of her Pacific Life Open title with an easy win over Angela Haynes.
The Slovakian fifth seed won 6-1 6-2 to move into the third round of the Indian Wells event, which she won for the second time 12 months ago.
Hantuchova broke the serve of the American wildcard three times in each set as she sealed victory in just over an hour.
"It feels unbelievable," said Hantuchova. "I have so many good memories of Indian Wells and I really enjoyed it today.
"I was just trying to enjoy myself like last year. It's an incredible honour to be the defending champion of a tournament like this."
Maria Sharapova made it 15 wins on the bounce after she crushed French qualifier Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-1 6-0.
Pace
The Russian, who lifted the title here in 2006, had more trouble with the windy conditions than she did with her opponent, needing just 58 minutes to secure the win.
"You never know what kind of tennis you're going to produce in these conditions, but against an opponent that didn't give me much pace, I think I handled it pretty well," Sharapova said.
The fourth-seed is joined in the third round by second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Kuznetsova recorded a comfortable 6-1 6-1 victory over fellow countrywoman Ekaterina Makarova - although she did have to save three break points.
"It was tough with the wind, but I was able to play well on the key points," Kuznetsova said.
Eighth-seeded Dinara Safina of Russia and No.10 ranked Agnieszka Radwanska also came through the second round unscathed.
Safina beat Jill Craybas 7-6 (7-3) 7-5, while Poland's Radwanska edged out Mariya Koryttseva 6-1 7-6 (7-3).
