Summary Only two players in WTA history have won back-to-back Indian Wells and Key Biscayne titles.
KEY BISCAYNE, Florida (AP) - After winning the PNB Paribas Open last week, Maria Sharapova is aiming for a rare double when she lines at the Sony Open.
Only two players in WTA history have won back-to-back Indian Wells and Key Biscayne titles: Steffi Graf in 1994 and 1996, and Kim Clijsters in 2005.
Sharapova, who won her second BNP Paribas title with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Caroline Wozniacki on Sunday, isn t scheduled to play until Friday at the Sony Open.
All the seeded players in the men s and women s draw receive a first-round bye.
"These tournaments are always really tough because they re close together," the No. 3-seeded Sharapova said. "As soon as you re done with the first one (Indian Wells) you re onto the next one and you re here. I m looking forward to trying to take it a step further (here) this year."
Sharapova came close to achieving the back-to-back victories in 2006, winning the Indian Wells tournament and reaching the final at Key Biscayne.
Overall, she s been in four Sony Open finals, including last year when she lost to Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
For Sharapova, who moved to the United States from Russia as a 9-year-old, the Sony Open is the event where she first watched professional tennis.
"I have a lot of history here," Sharapova said. Miami "is the city where I first landed when I came to the United States. I ve been a fan of this tournament since I was young because I came here with my family to watch it.
"And then I was able to play in it and be a part of it and I ve been to three or four finals here. So, hopefully, I can lift the trophy here one day."
The fourth-seeded Radwanska won three titles last year and has 10 overall in her career. She s never successfully defended a title, but she s hoping the Sony Open could be the first time she achieves the feat.
"It s always great to be back at a place where you have great memories and had great matches," said Radwanska, who reached her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon last year.
"There s always pressure and a lot of points to defend. But every week the top players feel a lot of pressure."
There were 10 main draw women s matches played on Tuesday. Veteran Japanese player Kimiko Date-Krumm beat Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa 6-2, 6-0.
Two former top 10 players, Flavia Pennetta of Italy and Andrea Petkovic of Germany, were in action.
Pennetta won her first-round match 6-4, 6-1 over Johanna Larsson of Sweden. Petkovic, playing in only her second tournament of the year following a knee injury at the Hopman Cup in January, defeated Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia 6-3, 6-1.
In other results, Ayumi Morita of Japan defeated Heather Watson of Britain 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, Kristina Mladecnovic of France had a 7-5, 6-2 win over Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada and Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan battled in the second-set tiebreaker to secure a 6-4, 7-6 (15) victory over Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine.
