Kuznetsova lost in the 2008 Indian Wells final to Ana Ivanovic

Sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova fell to a surprise defeat at Indian Wells, losing to wildcard Urszula Radwanska.

Kuznetsova, who has reached the final at Indian Wells for the last two years, lost 6-2 4-6 6-3 in the second round.

Top seed Dinara Safina made it safely into the third round beating Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova 7-6 (10-8) 6-2.

And former world number one Amelie Mauresmo recovered from a break down in the final set to beat Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld 5-7 6-3 6-4.

Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open champion, was overpowered by Radwanska, ranked 107 in the world, and despite a brief comeback in the second set the Russian was well beaten.

Safina, 22, saved four set points in the first-set tie-break against a determined Pironkova before easing through the second set against the world number 50.

World number two Safina will have her eye on overtaking Serena Williams at the top the rankings with neither of the Williams sisters set to feature at Indian Wells, and will take on 28th seed Shahar Peer of Israel in the third round.

Serena and sister Venus have not played at the tournament since 2001 when Serena was booed in the final after Venus had pulled out of a semi-final with her sibling, citing injury.

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Fourth seed Vera Zvonareva advanced with a 6-2 6-2 victory over Taiwan's Chan Yung-Jan of Taiwan, while eighth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus rallied for a 4-6 7-5 6-3 victory over Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.

Marion Bartoli, the 10th seed from France made an early exit, going down 1-6 6-4 6-4 to Peer.

Serbian stars Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic are scheduled to open their campaigns on Saturday, as is third-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva.

Jankovic, the second seed, will play Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a night match.

Ivanovic, the fifth seed, launches her defense of the title against Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus and Dementieva plays Czech Petra Cetkovska.

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