Maria Sharapova beat Caroline Wozniacki in an exhibition at Madison Square Garden Monday — though she lost the only point she played against Wozniacki's boyfriend, top-ranked golfer Rory McIlroy. With the Dane a game away from losing 6-3, 6-4, she invited McIlroy onto the court just hours after he won the Honda Classic to ascend to No. 1 in the world for the first time. Andy Roddick beat Roger Federer 7-5, 7-6 (7) in the night's second exhibition at the BNP Paribas Showdown. Roddick was 2-21 in his career against Federer. “I'm obviously in Roger's head,” Roddick joked after winning in his first appearance at the Garden. “I think Jeremy Lin wanted me to win tonight,” Roddick added. In jeans and a sweater, McIlroy showed off a one-handed backhand, and Sharapova hit his lob wide. Wozniacki has been ranked No. 1 for 67 weeks in her career, though she's currently down to No. 4. McIlroy knows he'll need to stay on top for “another couple of years” to catch his girlfriend in that stat. Action begins tomorrow World No. 1 Novak Djokovic and fourth-ranked Caroline Wozniacki will defend their titles at the $11 million Indian Wells ATP and WTA hardcourt event that begins Wednesday. The record prize purse for ATP-WTA events outside majors includes $1 million for both the men's and women's singles champion. Women's main draw matches begin Wednesday. The men open Thursday. High seeds have first-round byes. Serbian star Novak Djokovic captured Indian Wells as part of a stunning 2011 start of 41 match wins in a row. Djokovic began 2012 by winning the Australian Open crown but he lost to Britain's Andy Murray in last week's Dubai Open semifinals. Djokovic beat Spanish World No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the 2011 Indian Wells final and also took the trophy in 2008. Nadal will threaten again, as will three-time Indian Wells winner Roger Federer, the Swiss legend who has won 33 of his past 35 matches and five titles, and Murray. World No. 3 Federer beat World No. 4 Murray in last week's Dubai Open final and hopes to bring that momentum to the California desert.
