Top-seeded Kuznetsova out, Clijsters wins fast

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Svetlana Kuznetsova, the No. 1-seeded woman at the BNP Paribas Open, was frustrated into a racket-tossing moment near the end of her 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 loss to Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain on Saturday afternoon at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, but defending U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters needed only 58 minutes to move into the third round with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic.

U.S. Open semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer, seeded 13th, also advanced to the third round with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Julia Goerges.

Ryan Harrison, a 17-year-old American, couldn’t pull an upset, losing to 20th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2).

‘I feel good and the ball doesn’t go where I want it to go,’ Kuznetsova said. ‘I play it there and it goes a different way. I’m like, ‘Okay, I play tennis for like 17 years and I still cannot put this little ball in this huge court.’ It’s frustrating. I’m not the worst player in the world, so definitely, I have expectation from myself to put a little bit more inside the court.’

So it’s not only us recreational players who have that problem, keeping that tennis ball in the court.

Still to come on this sold-out day is defending men’s champion Rafael Nadal. Tonight defending women’s champion Vera Zvonareva plays 16-year-old American Sloane Stephens and second-seeded Novak Djokovic gets American veteran Mardy Fish.

Check back later at www.latimes.com/sports for more.

-- Diane Pucin