• 
• 

The Serb said on Wednesday that she is hot on the trail of a coach who can help her lift a game which has already taken the 23-year-old to five titles - four of them earned last season.

 "I'm working hard to find a new coach," Jankovic said prior to her start at the first Masters event of the season.

 "I've got a lot of options, no one has turned me down," said Jankovic, one of the most bubbly and personable women in the game. "We'll see in the next two weeks what develops, I'm hoping for a positive outcome."

   Jankovic split last month in Dubai from a part-time coach, complaining that her fitness is letting her down and also concerned about improving her game.

 "I want to go to the next level, I want someone who knows more about tennis than I do," she said.

 Jankovic lost in the semi-final in the Gulf at the Barclays event as she ran out of steam against Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.

 Renowned Florida trainer Pat Etcheberry was to arrive later to help her try and build up endurance and strength during the 10-day event in the Californian desert.

 "I'm healthy again and ready to work, it's important to also keep working on my body. I need to be better in long matches, I was dead in Dubai after the second set," Jankovic said.

 The Serb also believes that her new coach will have to have a sense of humour.

 "I'm a young girl and I like to have fun. It's no use pretending to be more mature than you are," she laughed. "I like to be around people who are not afraid to makes jokes and who are proud of their own accomplishments."

   Jankovic stands third in the event behind top-seeded compatriot Ana Ivanovic and number two Kuznetsova. All seeds on both the men's and women's side have first-round byes.

 Swiss-based Ivanovic, who has not played since losing a Dubai quarter-final to Elena Dementieva, will face either a Chinese or Romanian opponent in the second round.

 She said that after leaving the sunny Gulf, it had been tough to train indoors in Europe.

 "I came here to be able to practise outdoors," said the former Australian and French Open finalist, second in the world behind Justine Henin, who is not playing at Indian Wells.

 "The balls are flying a lot and it's difficult to find a rhythm. The courts are also playing slow. I'll be working on my timing."

   Ivanovic is playing at a WTA event as the top seed for just the second time in her carreer and is hoping the exercise will unfold better than last month in Doha, a week before Dubai.

 She won her first match but withdrew before taking the court for her second match with a left ankle injury.

 Australian Open winner Maria Sharapova takes the fourth seed, heading into the tournament with an undefeated record this season after also winning Doha and then withdrawing from Dubai.

 Sharapova has been successful in the desert, winning the title in 2006, and comes into this years event with a perfect 14-0 record in 2008.

 The Russian said that her success has shown that she has the determination to come back after a 2007 coloured by a shoulder injury.

 "I was playing with painkillers, and even if it didn't hurt, you knew in the back of your mind that you had to do something about it," said the 20-year-old with two Grand Slam titles.

 "But I have gained a lot of confidence now knowing that I was able to come back. I came back stronger and really feel good about myself," she said. "I know i can do it no matter what happens."

   Unseeded women began play on Wednesday with the parallel men's event starting on Friday.

 Roger Federer leads Rafael Nadal in the seedings with the Swiss now playing with the all-clear after revealing he was suffering with the mononucleosis virus in the first two months of this year.