World No.18 Maria Sharapova has reached her fourth semifinal in her nine appearances at the Indian Wells tournament. The victory in the quarters didn’t come easy, though. The 16th-seeded Russian swept through the first set and made a 2-0 lead in the second, but then her level dropped, she double-faulted seven times and Peng Shuai leveled the match. Sharapova managed to recover and won 6-2 5-7 6-3 after two hours and 22 minutes.
The 2006 Indian Wells champion Sharapova will play last year’s runner-up, top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki, in the final four. Wozniacki entered the semifinals in a considerably easier way, having played just three games against good friend Victoria Azarenka.
The other semifinal of the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open will feature Yanina Wickmayer and Marion Bartoli. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)
Too bad she’ll face Caro, she’ll probably loose, but this is a great result for Maria and I’ll be cheering up for her in SF:D
It was really hard to watch that match! She’s still so up and down, it’s hard to know which Maria will turn up from one match to the next! The next match will be interesting, but I’ll be shocked if Sharapova beats Wozniacki. Fingers crossed though!