Thursday, March 20, 2008

Maria into Semi Finals


Maria Sharapova beat No. 5 seed Daniela Hantuchova 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 on Wednesday to reach the semifinals of the $2.1 million Pacific Life Open. Maria, the fourth-seeded Australian Open champion, will meet No. 2 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals. Kuznetsova eliminated No. 10 seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-2, 6-4 in her quarterfinal contest. Sharapova, who won this tourney two years ago, is 18-0 this year. Kuznetsova was the 2007 U.S. Open runner-up and had lost to Hantuchova, a two-time champion here, in last year's Indian Wells final.The other quarterfinals will be Thursday, with top-seeded Aussie Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic going against 12th-seeded Vera Zvonareva, and third-seeded Jelena Jankovic facing 24th-seeded California native Lindsay Davenport, a two-time Indian Wells champion and four-time runner-up.Whoever wins the event will collect $332,000.

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