Reuters
Indian Wells, March 16: Top seed Serena Williams made short work of Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open here Sunday, obliterating her opponent 6-2, 6-0 in just 53 minutes.
Playing her second match at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden after deciding to end a 14-year boycott of the event where she had suffered alleged racist abuse, Serena broke an error-prone Diyas three times in each set to cruise into the last 16.
Britain’s Heather Watson claimed her first victory over a top-10 ranked player with a 6-4, 6-4 upset of World No. 8 Agnieszka Radwanska, while third-seeded Romanian Simona Halep battled past American Varvara Lepchenko 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
“Things are going in the right direction,” Australian Open champion Serena said courtside after blasting five aces and an array of searing groundstrokes past an outclassed opponent. “I was able to feel more consistent today (Sunday) and that really worked in my favour. I’m really glad to still be here and in the tournament. I love the support.”
Serena will next face fellow American Sloane Stephens, who scraped past Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 6-4.
