Serena races to Indian Wells quarter-finals

A dominant Serena Williams cruised into the BNP Paribas Open quarter-finals with a straight-sets thrashing of Kateryna Bondarenko.

World number one Williams needed just 72 minutes to do largely what was expected of her, crushing her Ukrainian opponent 6-2 6-2 at Indian Wells on Tuesday.

With the win, the 21-time grand-slam winner set up a last-eight blockbuster against defending champion Simona Halep.

Williams had dropped just five games in both of her previous wins over Bondarenko and a similar result always looked likely.

Her serve was particularly dominant from the outset and Bondarenko could only win six return points in the second set.

“It definitely wasn’t an easy match. She’s obviously been a good player in the past,” Williams said in an on-court interview.

On the conditions, she added: “It’s windy and it’s not windy but you just have to be able to adjust. I always think things could be worse.”