INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA - Victoria Azarenka had been one of the most consistently excellent players on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour so far this year, but at the tournament that pushed her into the world's Top 10 a year ago that season hit its first blip. On Monday night Azarenka became the latest Indian Wells surprise, losing a dramatic two-setter to María José Martínez Sánchez.
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Azarenka came into Indian Wells with an 11-3 record, those losses all coming very late in some of the biggest tournaments out there - the semis of Sydney (to Elena Dementieva), the quarters of Australia (to Serena Williams) and the final of Dubai (to Venus Williams). She very nearly beat Serena in that Aussie Open match too - she led 64 40 before falling to the eventual champion in three.
She improved to 12-3 with a win over Sybille Bammer over the weekend but against Martínez Sánchez she just wasn't at her best, quickly falling behind 5-1 and, despite saving four set points and getting back to 5-5, losing the first set in a tie-break and fading in the second set. Martínez Sánchez won, 76(4) 62.
Playing the No.6-ranked Azarenka for the very first time, Martínez Sánchez earned her fourth Top 10 win, her first three all coming last year (one against Nadia Petrova, two against Caroline Wozniacki).
In the feature night match, No.14 seed Kim Clijsters was also sent to the sidelines, falling to No.23 seed Alisa Kleybanova, 64 16 76(4). After losing the first set, Clijsters went on a tear, winning nine of the next 10 games to win the second set and lead 3-0 in the third. The pair remained on serve until the breaker, where Clijsters burst out to a 4-0 lead - but that's when Kleybanova caught fire again, reeling off seven points in a row for the shock win.
Clijsters had won 15 straight matches at Indian Wells, her last loss at the event coming in 2002. 
Highlights: Kleybanova vs. Clijsters
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"Credit to her, she played some really good points to get back into it," Clijsters said of the tie-break. "I would have loved to give myself another shot at trying to get into those quarters, semis, finals... this is always a tournament I love to play at. But you can see it more now, there are a lot of younger girls who are coming up and making it really tough for us. It's something I've really noticed.
"In the past when I used to play Grand Slams, my first few rounds were always kind of easy. That's definitely not the case anymore."
"I just told myself to stay there. That's what I did until the end of the match, even though I was 3-0 down in the final set and also 4-0 down in the tie-break," Kleybanova said. "When I had the chance, I took it. Against Justine in Australia I had my chances in the second set but didn't take them; it's something I did differently today." Interview: Alisa Kleybanova
Other winners were No.6 seed Jelena Jankovic, No.8 seed Samantha Stosur, No.12 seed Vera Zvonareva, No.13 seed Yanina Wickmayer, No.17 seed Shahar Peer and unseeded Spaniard Carla Suárez Navarro.
Jankovic finished off a dramatic 26 76(6) 64 win over Sara Errani in the evening. Read about Jankovic's win here. Highlights: Jankovic vs. Errani
Peer's win didn't come easily, as she came back from ahead to beat No.9 seed Flavia Pennetta, 64 67(4) 61. Peer held two match points at 64 54 before Pennetta rallied to take the second set; but Peer regained control in the third.
With the departure of Clijsters and earlier exits by Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova, Daniela Hantuchova and Ana Ivanovic, Zvonareva is now the only returning champion left in the draw, taking the Premier title last year. She beat Anastasija Sevastova, 62 63. Interview: Vera Zvonareva
