Russian duo Vera Zvonareva and Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the third round of the $5.5 million Indian Wells Open tennis tournament in the U.S. on Saturday.
Kuznetsova, the 25th seed, advanced after Swiss rival Timea Bacsinszky withdrew with a wrist injury in the second set. The Russian world No. 27 will meet Belarusian top seed Victoria Azarenka in the third round.
Zvonareva, the ninth seed, beat Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-3, 6-4.
Zvonreva will now play Czech Klara Zakopalova, who inflicted a shock defeat on Daniela Hantuchova.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the Russian No. 2 crashed out in the second round after a defeat to United States player Vania King 6-4, 6-4.
Russian No. 1 Maria Sharapova will face Argentina's Gisela Dulko in the second round Sunday. Sharapova reached the semi-final at Indian Wells last year, losing to Danish Caroline Wozniacki, the eventual winner, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.
In the men's draw, Nikolay Davydenko is the only Russian player to reach the second round, where he will play Gael Monfils of France.
Russia's Igor Kunitsyn and Alex Bogomolov Jr. both lost to unheralded opponents in the first round.
The tournament runs through 18 March, with a prize of $1 million for the winner.
