TENNIS / Second straight victory puts Sharapova on top of her group

Top seeds Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis got off to a winning start at the year-ending $7 million WTA Finals, being played on the hard courts of the Singapore Indoor Stadium, here on Monday.
The Indo-Swiss pair took just an hour and 15 minutes to defeat American sixth seeds Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears 6-4, 6-2 in the Red Group of the round-robin league format.
Sania, who won the prestigious tournament last year with Zimbabwean Cara Black, and Martina broke the American combination once in the first set, which was enough for them to take the lead in the match.
The top seeds, who are also individually the two highest ranked players in the world, not only saved six breakpoint opportunities the Americans earned but also broke Raquel and Abigail twice to seal the second set and the tie.
The Indo-Swiss pair will next take on Czech seventh seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in the second match of the round robin.
Meanwhile in singles action on Tuesday, Maria Sharapova continued her mastery of Romania’s Simona Halep with a high quality 6-4, 6-4 victory filled with bruising baseline rallies to edge closer to a last four berth.
The Russian World No. 4 topped the Red Group with her second win and next faces U.S. Open champion Flavia Pennetta, who said she would retire after the tournament, with a semifinal spot on the line.
The 33-year-old Italian had earlier kept alive her bid with a flurry of backhand winners as she downed a strapped-up and fatigued Agnieszka Radwanska 7-6(5), 6-4 to leave the Pole bottom of the standings with two defeats.
On Monday, heavy-hitting baseliners Garbine Muguruza and Angelique Kerber brushed aside Czech challengers to make a winning start to their campaign.
Spaniard Muguruza dispatched Lucie Safarova 6-3, 7-6(4) before Germany’s Kerber overcame an error-strewn and unwell Petra Kvitova 6-2, 7-6(3) in a battle of the lefties in another White Group encounter.
The championship, generally considered the fifth most prestigious event on the women’s tour after the four Grand Slams, has the largest prize money and ranking points after the Slams.
THE RESULTS:
Tuesday: Red Group: 7-Flavia Pennetta (Ita) bt 5-Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) 7-6(5), 6-4; 3-Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt 1-Simona Halep (Rou) 6-4, 6-4.
Doubles: White Group: 3 - Hao-Ching Chan (Tpe) & Yung-Jan Chan (Tpe) bt 2-Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) & Lucie Safarova (Cze) 6-2, 6-2.
Monday: White Group: 2-Garbine Muguruza (Esp) bt 7-Lucie Safarova (Cze) 6-3, 7-6(4); 6-Angelique Kerber (Ger) bt 4-Petra Kvitova (Cze) 6-2, 7-6(3).
Doubles: Red Group: 1-Martina Hingis (Sui) & Sania Mirza (Ind) bt 6-Raquel Kops-Jones (USA) & Abigail Spears (USA) 6-4, 6-2. — Agencies