INDIAN WELLS (California), March 15: Defending champion Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and fourth-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova breezed through their opening matches in the Pacific Life Open second round on Friday.

Hantuchova swept past American wildcard Angela Haynes 6-1, 6-2 in windy conditions at the Indian Well Tennis Garden before Sharapova crushed French qualifier Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-1, 6-0.

Second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova also cruised through her first encounter, overpowering fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-1, 6-1 in only 53 minutes in an evening match.

Hantuchova, who won the tournament for a second time by beating Kuznetsova in last year’s final, broke Haynes three times in each set to seal victory in just over an hour.

“That felt great,” the fifth seed told reporters. “It was an incredible feeling to be back on the centre court.”

The 24-year-old advances to a third round match with China’s Zheng Jie, who upset 30th-seeded Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2, 6-4.

“It definitely feels like it’s my home out there,” the Slovakian added. “I wish I could play every match of the year on this court. I don’t know what it is. I guess it’s the bounce. It’s not too slow, not too fast.”

The only problem for Hantuchova on a sun-drenched day was the swirling wind.

“It was very, very tough,” she said. “In a wind like this, you never know what to expect.”

Sharapova, who claimed her third Grand Slam at the Australian Open in January, broke Cohen-Aloro twice in the first set and three times in the second to wrap up the match in 58 minutes.

“This has been an incredible start to the year and it’s great to be playing in my second home of California,” said the Russian, who is unbeaten in 15 WTA matches this season.

“A couple of weeks ago we were playing a tournament in Doha and I’ve never played tennis in so much wind,” she added. “You get used to it and it was the same for my opponent.”

In other matches, eighth-seeded Dinara Safina of Russia scraped past American Jill Craybas 7-6, 7-5 and Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine beat Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3, 7-6.

Peng Shuai of China crushed Italian Karin Knapp 6-1, 6-3 to set up a third-round encounter with Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, who defeated Ukrainian Mariya Koryttseva 6-1, 7-6.

In the men’s draw, American wildcard John Isner unleashed 16 aces to edge past Italian Simone Bolelli 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 in the first round.

The 6-foot-9 Isner, making his debut in the opening Masters Series event of the year, clinched the tiebreak 7-2 in the final set to secure victory in just under two-and-a-half hours.

“It was a lot of fun to play out there on the centre court,” Isner told reporters after booking a place in the next round against fourth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko.

In other first round matches, Austria’s Juergen Melzer beat former world number one Marat Safin of Russia 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 and Chile’s Nicolas Massu battled past Serb Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 3-6, 7-6.

American Sam Querrey, who won his maiden ATP title at last week’s Las Vegas Open, defeated Peru’s Luis Horna 7-5, 6-3 to set up a second-round encounter with twice champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia.

The top players enter the fray on Saturday when third-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic takes on Italy’s Andreas Seppi and defending champion Rafa Nadal faces Santiago Giraldo of Columbia.

World No 1 and top seed Roger Federer makes his first appearance on Sunday against Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Friday’s results (prefix number denotes

seeding):

Men’s singles:

First round: Nicolas Mahut (France) bt Evgeny Korolev (Russia) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2; Mario Ancic (Croatia) bt Gael Monfils (France) 6-3, 6-2; Marin Cilic (Croatia) bt Kei Nishikori (Japan) 6-2, 6-4; Mardy Fish (US) bt Florian Mayer (Germany) 7-5, 6-4; Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) bt Sergio Roitman (Argentina) 6-1, 6-4; Tommy Haas (Germany) bt Julien Benneteau (France) 3-6, 6-0, 6-2; Gilles Simon (France) bt Carlos Berlocq (Argentina) 6-2, 6-3; Sam Querrey (US) bt Luis Horna (Peru) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3; Thomas Johansson (Sweden) bt Lu Yen-hsun

(Taiwan) 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4; Max Mirnyi (Belarus) bt Jose Acasuso (Argentina) 7-5, 7-5; John Isner (US) bt Simone Bolelli (Italy) 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-2); Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) bt Oscar Hernandez (Spain) 6-2, 6-1; Juergen Melzer (Austria) bt Marat Safin (Russia) 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-2; Rik de Voest (South Africa) bt Michael Berrer (Germany) 7-6 (7-4), 7-5; Nicolas Massu (Chile) bt Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4); Victor Hanescu (Romania) bt Albert Montanes (Spain) 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Women’s singles:

Second round: Aiko Nakamura (Japan) bt Yan Zi (China) 6-2, 0-6, 6-4; 2-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) bt Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) 6-1, 6-1; 21-Sania Mirza (India) bt Olga Savchuk (Ukraine) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4; Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) bt 18-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) 6-2, 6-0; 4-Maria Sharapova (Russia) bt Stephanie Cohen-Aloro (France) 6-1, 6-0; 17-Amelie Mauresmo (France) bt Edina Gallovits (Romania) 6-2, 6-4; Zheng Jie (China) bt 30-Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine) 6-2, 6-4; 9-Shahar Peer (Israel) bt Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzbekistan) 6-1, 6-4; 25-Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) bt Klara Zakopalova (Czech Republic) 1-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-2; 5-Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) bt Angela Haynes (US) 6-1, 6-2; 10-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) bt Mariya Koryttseva (Ukraine) 6-1, 7-6 (7-3); 8-Dinara Safina (Russia) bt Jill Craybas (US) 7-6 (7-3), 7-5; 28-Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) bt Sofia Arvidsson (Sweden) 7-5, 6-4; 15-Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) bt Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) 6-3, 7-6 (7-2); Peng Shuai (China) bt 23-Karin Knapp (Italy) 6-1, 6-3.—Reuters