Federer, Nadal move into quarterfinals

The quarterfinals are set on the men’s side of the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells and the top-seed and the defending champion are both still alive.

Top-seeded Roger Federer moved past Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-4 and will now face unseeded Tommy Haas in the quarters. Haas defeated #11 Andy Murray 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the fourth round to reach the quarters. Haas has now defeated #6 Andy Roddick, #30 Fernando Verdasco, and Murray. Haas, who has seen his ranking drop dramatically this year due to injuries, is very familiar with Federer. The two have played 10 times previously with Federer winning eight of those matches (including seven in a row). The winner of the Federer/Haas match will move into the semifinals where he will face either American Mardy Fish or seventh-seeded David Nalbandian.

Fish defeated his third consecutive seeded player yesterday, with a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(4) victory over #24 Lleyton Hewitt. Fish has now beaten #31 Igor Andreev, #4 Nikolay Davydenko, and Hewitt. He gets a chance to beat a fourth when he takes on Nalbandian in the quarters. The Argentine Nalbandian cruised past #22 Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-2, 6-2. Fish is 1-0 against Nalbandian in his career, but that match took place in 2003.

On the bottom half of the draw the defending champion, Rafael Nadal, survived a three setter against #17 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Nadal won 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 7-5 to enact some revenge on Tsonga after the Frenchman beat him in the semis of the Australian Open earlier this year. Nadal will now face American James Blake (#9), who beat #8 Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-2. Blake is 3-0 against Nadal in his career, but the two haven’t faced since the end of 2006.

Finally, the last quarterfinal match will pit this year’s Australian Open champion, Novak Djokovic, against unseeded Stanislas Wawrinka. Djokovic didn’t need a lot of time to dispense of #16 Guillermo Canas 6-2, 6-3. Wawrinka needed three sets to beat Hyung-Taik Lee, winning 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 7-6(3). Djokovic and Wawrinka are 2-2 against each other in their careers, but Djokovic did win the last time they played.

Only the Djokokvic/Wawrinka and Blake/Nadal matches are scheduled to be played today.

Sharapova to face Kuznetsova in semis

One semifinal match has been determined on the women’s side of the Pacific Life Open, and it will pit two Russians against each other.

Second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova drilled #10 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-4, while Sharapova defeated the defending champion, Daniela Hantuchova, 7-6(2), 6-1. Sharapova is now a perfect 18-0 on the season, having won the Australian Open and the title at Doha already this year. Kuznetsova is trying to reach her third final this year, as she lost to Henin in Sydney and Dementieva in Dubai. Head-to-head, Sharapova is 4-3 against Kuznetsova in her career. The two last faced at the end of the year Tour Championships in 2007, with Sharapova winning in three sets.

The top half of the draw will have its semifinal match set today, as #1 Ana Ivanovic will face #12 Vera Zvonareva in one quarter while #3 Jelena Jankovic will take on #24 Lindsay Davenport in the other.