Angelique Kerber sails through Indian Wells opener

World number two Angelique Kerber has made light work of her opening test at Indian Wells by beating Andrea Petkovic in straight sets.

The two-time Grand Slam winner, who will overtake Serena Williams at the top of the standings next week, came through unscathed 6-2 6-1 in a time of less than an hour.

Petkovic lost serve in the opening game of the contest and never truly recovered, with a second break for Kerber in the seventh seeing her grab a big foothold in the one-sided match.

It was plain sailing in the second set, too, as Kerber again held throughout and took five games on the spin to ease through to the last 32 in California, where she will face Pauline Parmentier.

Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki is also through to the next round, meanwhile, after beating Magda Linette 6-3 6-0.