Indian Wells tennis: Dinara Safina stuns Samantha Stosur, Wozniacki and Sharapova win

A jubilant Dinara Safina added another chapter to her on-court renaissance by upsetting fourth-seeded Samantha Stosur 7-6 6-4 in the third round of the Indian Wells WTA tournament on Monday.

The Russian former world number one swept through the first set tiebreaker 7-2 and charged 4-2 up in the second before holding off a late fightback by the Australian.

Despite being broken twice herself in the second set and serving up a staggering total of 16 double faults in an error-strewn match, Safina held her nerve to seal victory in just under two hours at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Stosur, trailing 4-5 and 15-40 down on her own serve, struck an overhead smash long after a protracted rally to give an emotional Safina a place in the fourth round.

"I am so excited and so happy," the Russian said courtside after thrusting both arms skywards in a mixture of relief and celebration. "The emotions are pouring out."

Safina, who has slipped to 108th in the rankings after being troubled by a back injury last year, will next meet compatriot Maria Sharapova, a 6-2 6-2 winner against 20th-seeded Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai.

"It's another tough match, another tough challenge," Safina said of her next encounter with the 2006 champion at Indian Wells. "I hope it's going to be another great match."

Sharapova, who needed almost three hours on court to win her first match here against Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues, recovered from losing her opening service game to complete a commanding victory in 73 minutes.

"It started slow," said the 23-year-old Russian. "I started like I didn't have my cup of coffee or something... so that was disappointing. But I got it together.

"She had a lot of errors today and I had good return games. I served a lot better in the second set."

Ruthless demolition
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki finally found a way to beat Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez with a ruthless 6-1 6-3 demolition in the first match of the day on the showpiece stadium court.

Wozniacki, who had lost to the left-handed doubles specialist in their three previous meetings, broke her opponent four times to triumph in 72 minutes.

Under a cloudless blue sky, the Danish world number one dominated most of the exchanges from the baseline and needed just one match point to advance to the next round after a Martinez Sanchez forehand sailed long.

"I'm happy to be through," a beaming Wozniacki said after ending the 28th-ranked Spaniard's run. "She's a tough player, so I knew that this was not going to be an easy one.

"You don't get any rhythm against her. It was important to move my feet, try to get as many returns back. As long as I kept her on the baseline, then I felt like I was in control of the point."

Wozniacki, starting her 22nd week as world number one after losing it for one week to Kim Clijsters, broke Martinez Sanchez's serve twice to breeze through the opening set in 27 minutes in bright morning sunshine.

The pony-tailed Dane maintained control with further breaks in the fifth and ninth games of the second to stay on track for her second WTA title this year, following her success at last month's Dubai championships.

In other matches, eighth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus beat Poland's Urszula Radwanska 7-6 6-3 but there was better news for her ninth-seeded sister Agnieszka Radwanska, who battled past Russia's Maria Kirilenko 6-0 2-6 7-5.