World No.1 Serena Williams wrapped up the top half of the quarterfinal draw at the BNP Paribas Open by cruising past 70th-ranked Kateryna Bondarenko in their first encounter since 2009.
The American raced to a 5-1 lead in the first set, and even though she dropped serve when serving for the set, in the following game she quickly got back on the fast track to the Indian Wells quarterfinals. The second set also started with Serena’s dominance, a 4-0 lead, and although Bondarenko managed to approach the queen by taking two straight games, there was absolutely no way she could pose significant danger to the great Serena, who earned a 6-2 6-2 victory in one hour and 12 minutes.
Serena hit one unforced error more than her opponent, 22 to Bondarenko’s 21, but she scored significantly more winners, 26 to Bondarenko’s 13.
In the final eight, Serena, wearing the stunning omega blue version of her Nike crop top and pleated skirt, will face fifth seed Simona Halep, who advanced when Barbora Strycova retired from their match, trailing 6-3 1-0. The other quarterfinal pair in the top half features third seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat Jelena Jankovic 6-3 6-3, and eighth seed Petra Kvitova, who ended the run of qualifier Nicole Gibbs 4-6 6-3 6-4.
