The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Kuznetsova ends Sharapova’s run

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Kuznetsova ends Sharapova’s run

INDIAN WELLS: Svetlana Kuznetsova ended Maria Sharapova’s winning streak at 18 matches with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 victory in the Pacific Life Open semifinals on Friday.

Sharapova’s perfect start to the season included titles in the Australian Open and at Doha.

Kuznetsova, refusing to wilt after Sharapova won the second set, broke her service in the opening game of the third and went on to build a 5-1 lead. In the matchup of Russian stars, No. 3 Kuznetsova played more aggressively than Sharapova, taking more chances by driving groundstrokes close to the lines. Many went for winners.

Kuznetsova’s victory evened her career mark against Sharapova at 4-4.

Surprise semifinalist

On the men’s side, Mardy Fish, who had never made it beyond the fourth round at Indian Wells, added to his string of surprises in this year’s tournament with a 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(4) victory over David Nalbandian.

The win over No. 7 Nalbandian put the 98th-ranked Fish into Saturday’s semifinals, where he will need to pull off the upset of his life to advance. His next opponent is No. 1 Roger Federer, who is 5-0 against him.

Mirza & Mattek lose

The Indo-American pair of Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek could not capitalise on a good start and went down to the third-seeded Chinese duo of Yan Zi and Zheng Jie in the women’s doubles semifinal. The see-saw encounter saw the seventh-seeded Indo-American duo go one up before the Chinese pair rallied to win it 6-7(4), 7-5, 10-4.

The results: Men: Quarterfinals: Roger Federer w/o Tommy Haas; Mardy Fish bt David Nalbandian 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(4).

Women: Semifinals: Ana Ivanovic bt Jelena Jankovic 7-6(3), 6-3; Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Maria Sharapova 6-3, 5-7, 6-2; Zi Yan & Jie Zheng bt Bethanie Mattek & Sania Mirza 6-7(4), 7-5, 10-4. — Agencies

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