Women seeds progress in Indian Wells

Events / Editor / 12 March 2007 / Leave a Comment

Maria Sharapova and Martina Hingis are among the seeded players through to the fourth round of the Pacific Life Open.

World number one Sharapova beat France's Nathalie Dechy 7-5 6-2, to set up a clash with 15th seed and fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva.

The former Wimbledon champion has not played much since her defeat in the Australian Open final and is not concerned by her patchy form.

Sharapova said: "I only started serving five days before the event because I got injured when I landed on serve.
"When you don't compete for that amount of time, it's normal."

Third seed Hingis was more impressive in her straight sets victory, 6-2 6-4, over Austria's Yvonne Meusburger.
There were also victories for seventh seed Jelena Jankovic, who beat Martina Muller 6-2 6-4, and eighth seed Anna Chakvetadze, who was a 6-4 6-1 victor over Maria Kirilenko.

Betfair punters see Sharapova as the firm 2.9 favourite for the title, with Kuznetsova and Nadia Petrova (both 7.6.) seen as her main challengers.

Jankovic is trading at 8.6 to win the Indian Wells event, while Hingis can be backed at 12.5 and Chakvetadze is available at 13.