Women?s third round play constituted the feature attraction at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden today.

While there were no major upsets, a minor surprise was registered when Meghann Shaughnessy, seeded 23rd, scored a confident 6-4, 6-3 decision over 12th-seeded Eleni Daniilidou. Daniilidou was too often walking on the wild side, committing 37 unforced errors and 7 double faults. Meanwhile, Shaughnessy kept the errors down and rifled 13 forehand winners. The American, who is rebounding well after an off year in 2002, will next face teenaged Russian up-and-comer Vera Zvonareva in the fourth round.

Among the tournament favourites, Amélie Mauresmo (5) had to work the hardest. We examine her tribulations in greater detail below. As well, we look at another strong outing by Magüi Serna, and gather some thoughts from Indonesian prodigy Angelique Widjaja.

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Amélie Mauresmo (5) def. Tamarine Tanusugarn, 6-3, 7-5, 6-2
Third round
Stadium 1
Previous head-to-head: Tied 1-1

Recalling that Thailand?s Tamarine Tanasugarn upset Amélie Mauresmo (pictured at right) at Wimbledon two years ago, we expected this might be the most competitive of the stadium court matches. Indeed it was. Fifth-seeded Mauresmo, playing only her third tournament of the year because of a knee injury, had to work hard to survive an off day and her plucky opponent.

It was probably Mauresmo?s resourcefulness that pulled her through. Both her serve (14 double faults) and baseline game were off kilter, and she had to rely on her net game and return-volley tactcs. ?You know, I fought,? said Amélie after the match. ?I tried different things, I went to the net. In the end it worked for me.?

It was clear that Mauresmo, despite taking the first set, was not on her game. She claimed that her struggles had nothing to do with her recent knee and adductor problems, but rather a lack of pep. ?Just a general feeling. It?s like sometimes you don?t have too much energy and stuff. I guess that?s what happened today because I really wasn?t moving well. So if you don?t feel comfortable in the legs, it?s tough to find a good rhythm with the arm.?

Tanasugarn gave away fewer free points in the second set than in the first, and at times played some spectacular shots. Serving at 5-5, Tamarine came back from 15-40 with an ace, a backhand pass, and back-to-back lob winners against the net-rushing Frenchwoman. Then with Mauresmo serving at 5-6, the Thai set up her first set point with another fine passing shot, then levelled the match thanks to a Mauresmo forehand error.

The third set saw Mauresmo get an early break in game three. The match then definitively swung her way on her next service game at 2-1. It was a marathon 10-deuce game that featured four double faults (two of them on game points), and four break points, but the Frenchwoman finally managed to hold. From there Amélie held her lead, adding another break for good measure at 4-2, and closed it out fairly quickly.

The best news for the struggling Frenchwoman may be that the format of this tournament allows for a day off between matches. ?I?m going to make sure I relax tonight, massage and stuff, practice again a little bit tomorrow, and make sure I?m in better shape for the next round.?

She had better be in good shape, or else she could face more worries against Magüi Serna. ?Yeah, a lefty,? said Amélie when asked to preview the matchup. ?She?s a very talented player. She has a different kind of game that you don?t usually see on the women?s tour.? And as we have seen all week, the Spaniard has been using that different game to very good effect?

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Magüi Serna def. Angelique Widjaja, 7-5, 6-2
Third round
Stadium 3
Previous head-to-head: First meeting

24-year-old Spaniard Magüi Serna won the final of our favourite corner of the draw, and, more importantly to her, gained a berth in the fourth round with a logical straight set win over 63rd-ranked Indonesian teenager Angelique Widjaja.

Serna has a lot of weapons in her arsenal, and used them all to baffle the young Indonesian. Aces (6) and hard forehand drives were complemented with a number of tasty drop shots and lobs. Widjaja acquitted herself well, especially in the first set with some fine backhand passes and angled winners, but in the end was outgunned.

Widjaja had chances to at least put the first set in a tie-break, after breaking Serna when the Spaniard served for the set at 5-4. But Serna broke back immediately in a long 5-5 game, finally converting on her fourth break point with a gorgeous topspin forehand that curled just inside the sideline. With Magüi serving for the set again at 6-5, ?Angie? tried hard to re-break, but at 30-30 got a bit of bad luck with a Serna shot that looked out was called in. An out call would have given Widjaja a break point to force a tie-break. The Spaniard went on to hold, knocking off a volley winner on her first set point.

In the second set Serna continued her stylish play, breaking Widjaja in games three and seven, and firing a service winner on her first match point.

We had the pleasure of chatting with Angelique Widjaja (pictured at right) after her loss. She is a very pleasant young woman who is still learning the English language, but who manages admirably to get her thoughts across. Angelique did not seem overly disappointed with the loss, since she was able to take away a lot of positives from her first trip to Indian Wells. The 18 year old from Bandung won two matches here, gained some valuable ranking points, and most importantly defeated 13th ranked Patty Schnyder, the highest-ranked victim of her career so far.

• Widjaja recognized Serna?s fine play in today?s match. ?I played not too bad today, but she played good.?
• Angie feels that her year is now on the right road after a so-so start to the season. ?This year has been not too good, but not too bad either? kind of in the middle. My game is improved, but I need to improve mentally. This year I lost a lot of close matches that I almost won. I just need more experience in the WTA, because it?s very different from juniors.?
• The biggest difference she has found between the juniors and the pros is the unrelenting competitiveness of the pro tour. ?In juniors it?s more like friendship, but in the pros you are more alone. The game is also different. Everything is different!?, she said with a chuckle.
• Having fellow Indonesian Wynne Prakusya already on the tour ?helps a lot. On the tour I am also friendly with some of the Asian players, and now some of the Spanish players also.? Is one of them Serna? ? Not really, no!?, she laughed.
• Widjaja would like to see tennis gain a higher profile in her homeland. ?The sport in Indonesia is not too big, no. In the last couple of years, there are no tennis players coming along after me. They just changed the president of the federation, and they are trying to create more tournaments to have more new players from Indonesia.?

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  Wandering in the desert

  More Dementieva dramatics

  In Thursday?s report we mentioned Elena Dementieva?s scarily heavy breathing during nervous moments in her three set win over Iveta Benesova. Today Elena had another close call, a 6-3, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3 squeaker over Virginia Ruano Pascual, and there were more dramatics from the Russian. Late in the third set, Dementieva?s second serves were so slow they almost defied belief, and some in the crowd gasped or chuckled at the floating deliveries. It may not hav e been just nerves, since Dementieva was at times giving indications that her shoulder was bothering her. We?ll see how Elena pulls up on Monday when she plays second seed Jennifer Capriati. Capriati looked in fine form today, breezing past Denisa Chladkova, 6-2, 6-2.

  Fernando furious in men?s qualifying

  The men?s qualifying tournament started today, and we peeked in at a few of the matches. Brazilian veteran Fernando Meligeni was trounced 6-3, 6-1 by the little Belgian dynamo Olivier Rochus, but the fiery Meligeni found time to wage one of the longest arguments I have ever seen. The chair umpire made a rare ruling, judging that one of Meligeni?s shots bounced off the court just after hitting his racquet, and then went over the net. Meligeni was beside himself, and with copious gestures ar gued the point at great length. When Fernando was given a time violation and told by the umpire to play, he replied, ?What? Are you my father?? He then called for the referee and tried to explain his case, going so far as to take a ball and hit it the way the umpire claimed he hit it, and then way he thought he hit it. Needless to say, Meligeni lost the argument.

  We?ll give a more complete rundown of men?s qualifying tomorrow.

  Appetizing men?s draw announced

  The draw for the men?s tournament was released today. As always in a Masters Series event, there are some appetizing first round fixtures. This year the top seeds will be tested right off the bat. Number one Lleyton Hewitt drew his executioner at this year?s Australian Open, Younes El Aynaoui, while second seed Andre Agassi, who drew huge crowds for his practice sessions today, could be tested by the new slimmed-down version of Marcelo Ríos.