Tennis stars and the glamour quotient is a very interesting combination. Maria Sharapova pleased all with her great game at the Pacific Life Open. She breezed to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over French qualifier Stephanie Cohen-Aloro in the second round of the Pacific Life Open. The fourth-seeded Russian world number five needed just 58 minutes to down Cohen-Aloro as Sharapova recorded five breaks of serve.

Former Indian Wells champion Sharapova, who followed up her victory in Melbourne by winning in Doha last month, improved her season record to 15-0, which has included just two dropped sets. Good going and a good sign to all her fans that she is determined to win. Her remark that “I’ve been playing good enough tennis to not be nervous before my first round,” said Sharapova gives a sure sign that she will be a tough cookie to crack at this tournament. She along with the other 32 seeds in the draw received first round byes.

Wildcard Angela Haynes did not have much luck on her side as she faced Daniela Hantuchova and lost to 6-1 6-2. Fifth-seed Hantuchova, the world number eight, was in top form against Haynes and never faced a break point in dispatching the American in 68 minutes, breaking the world number 211 five times.

Russian second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, last year’s beaten finalist, opened her account with a straightforward 6-1, 6-1 victory against compatriot Ekaterina Makarova.

Donald Young had the worst luck when he met Rafael Nadal in the third round of the Pacific Life Open. The defending champion Rafael Nadal defeated Donald Young in their first meeting, and James Blake evened his record against familiar foe Carlos Moya in third-round matches Monday at the Pacific Life Open.

Nadal beat his 18-year-old American opponent 6-1, 6-3. Blake took a methodical 6-3, 6-4 victory over Moya.

The 21-year-old Nadal, ranked No. 2 behind Roger Federer, benefited from Young’s inconsistency.

Although he was able to match Nadal stroke-for-stroke in some rallies and also hit several hard winners that brought roars from the crowd, Young’s inexperience was evident at other times.

After hitting a routine forehand out to end a long rally in the second set, Young slammed his racket to the ground in frustration. Soon after, he banged an overhead volley into the net, shaking his head at missing the easy shot.

Young won just seven of 17 points when he went to the net and Nadal was 6-of-7. Young made 38 unforced errors, 13 more than his Spanish opponent.

Nadal dictated the pace for most of the match, keeping Young on the run with well-placed ground strokes.

Young had scored the biggest victory of his career two days earlier at Indian Wells, beating No. 32 Feliciano Lopez in three sets.