Defending champion Flavia Pennetta has continued her domination of Samantha Stosur to send the Australian No.1 crashing out of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Pennetta overpowered Stosur 6-4 6-2 to book a fourth-round showdown with world No.2 Maria Sharapova.
It was the Italian's sixth win from as many meetings with Stosur and her eighth in a row at Indian Wells, a streak which earned Pennetta the biggest title of her career last year.
At the very same minute as the 15th-seeded Pennetta was finishing off Stosur, at 9.05pm local time, Sharapova converted her sixth match point to defeat two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka 6-4 6-3 in the feature match of the day.
Sharapova and Pennetta are tied 2-2 in their head-to-head rivalry, with all four career encounters going to three sets.
Pennetta has actually won their last two, but they haven't played since 2011.
Plucky Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic pulled off the biggest win of her young career earlier on Monday, ousting world No.5 Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets.
The 18-year-old Bencic, who had never beaten a top-five player, won 6-4 6-4 in the third round of the WTA and ATP hard-court tournament.
"I am very happy. I'm really excited," Bencic said. "I always watched her on TV or when I was a small girl she was my idol and a role model for me and for my game."
Wozniacki, a former Indian Wells champion who is seeded fourth, won her 23rd career singles title just two weeks ago in Kuala Lumpur.
Bencic had played Wozniacki just once before in Istanbul, Turkey last year where she was crushed 6-0 6-0.
Asked Monday what the biggest difference between the two matches was, Bencic joked, "I won a game."
Bencic next faces another former Indian Wells champion, Jelena Jankovic, who beat Wozniacki in the final five years ago.
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