(MENAFN- Kora) Australian Open champion Li encountered few problems against countrywoman Zheng Jie, cruising to a 6-1 7-5 win at the WTA Premier event at Indian Wells
Converting all three of her break points was key for Li in the opening set and, while the second was tighter, she never looked troubled
The two-time grand slam champion will face Karolina Pliskova in the third round after the Czech's upset 7-5 6-2 win over 28th-seeded countrywoman Klara Zakopalova
German fifth seed Kerber's loss was the biggest surprise as she was beaten 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 by Spain's Maria Torro-Flor
The only previous meeting between the pair was in Tokyo last year, when Kerber dropped just one game but Torro-Flor prevailed on this occasion in two hours and 20 minutes
Torro-Flor will face Alisa Kleybanova in the third round after the Russian thrashed Spanish 32nd seed Garbine Muguruza 6-3 6-2
Also stunned on Saturday was Kerber's countrywoman and 15th seed Sabine Lisicki
The 2013 Wimbledon runner-up was unable to close her match against Aleksandra Wozniak before the Canadian prevailed 7-5 1-6 7-6 (7-5)
Lisicki served for the match at 5-4 and 6-5 in the third set before giving up a 4-0 lead in the tie-break as she exited
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will fancy her chances against Wozniak after the Russian 21st seed accounted for Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia 6-4 7-5
Romanian 25th seed Sorana Cirstea was the other seed to depart after a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 loss to Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi
Russian fourth seed Maria Sharapova breezed into the third round with a 6-1 6-4 thrashing of German Julia Goerges
Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia € the 12th seed € brushed past Croatian wildcard Donna Vekic 6-3 6-2 and Czech eighth seed Petra Kvitova thrashed American wildcard Coco Vandeweghe 6-1 6-3
Russian seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Svetlana Kuznetsova also advanced
Makarova, the 23rd seed, overcame Romanian Monica Niculescu 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 and Czech Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova was no match for 27th seed Kuznetsova in a 6-3 6-3 loss
Serbian 11th seed Ana Ivanovic battled past Ukrainian teenager Elina Svitolina 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-1) and Australian 16th seed Samantha Stosur was untroubled by Italian veteran Francesca Schiavone in a 6-2 6-3 win.
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