Sharapova, Sveta, Serbs Reach Indian Wells Semifinals

The women's semifinal is set for action today at the Pacific Life Open at the Indian wells Tennis Garden.

The first semifinal of the day pits second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova against No. 4 seed Maria Sharapova. Both women are 2-0 in semifinals so far this season, with Kuznetsova reaching the Sydney and Dubai finals and Sharapova reaching the Australian Open and Doha finals; the difference is that Kuznetsova finished runner-up at both Sydney (to Justine Henin) and Dubai (to Elena Dementieva) and Sharapova won the title in both of her finals. Both women had winning records in semifinals last year, with Kuznetsova going 6-4 and Sharapova going 4-3

Kuznetsova has won nine of her last 11 matches against Russians; she was on an eight-match streak until her loss to Sharapova at the Tour Championships last fall, then fell to 8-2 after losing to Dementieva in the Dubai final a few weeks ago; she beat Ekaterina Makarova in her opener here at Indian Wells to improve to 9-2 in her last 11.

Sharapova has won 19 of her last 20 matches against Russians (she is on an 11-match streak against her fellow Russians, including a win over Kuznetsova at the Tour Championships last fall); her last loss to a countrywoman came here at Indian Wells a year ago (falling to Vera Zvonareva in the fourth round, 46 75 61, having led 64 53).

The second semifinal of the day features an all Serbian clash as No. 1 seed Ana Ivanovic tests No. 3 seed Jelena Jankovic.

Ivanovic is 1-1 in semifinals so far this season (finishing runner-up at the Australian Open and falling at this stage at Sydney); Jankovic is 0-2 in semifinals so far this season (falling at this stage at the Australian Open and Dubai). Both women had winning records in semifinals last year, with Ivanovic going 5-3 and Jankovic going 8-6.

The most competitive of the Serbians’ five prior meetings (which Ivanovic leads, 4-1) came in their most recent one, which went to Ivanovic, 46 63 75; Jankovic led 4-1 in the third set and held two match points leading 5-4.

Jankovic has a shot at reaching a new career-high ranking of No.2 at this event; she will need to beat Ivanovic today and go on to win the title, no matter who she plays in the final (see Ranking Projections below). She is also blogging from Indian Wells this fortnight (go to www.sonyericssonwtatour.com to check it out!).

RANKING PROJECTIONS
• The No.2-No.5 ranking group could undergo a major makeover after this event (Henin stays No.1 no matter what)
• Jankovic can rise to a new career-high of No.2 on Monday if she beats Ivanovic today and goes on to win the title
• Whoever loses in the first semifinal between Kuznetsova and Sharapova will be ranked No.5 on the new rankings
• If Kuznetsova beats Sharapova, Ivanovic beats Jankovic, then Kuznetsova wins the title…
Ivanovic will be No.2, Kuznetsova will be No.3 and Jankovic will be No.4
• If Kuznetsova beats Sharapova, Ivanovic beats Jankovic, then Ivanovic wins the title…
Ivanovic will be No.2, Jankovic will be No.3 and Kuznetsova will be No.4
• If Kuznetsova beats Sharapova, Jankovic beats Ivanovic, then Kuznetsova wins the title…
Ivanovic will be No.2, Jankovic will be No.3 and Kuznetsova will be No.4
• If Kuznetsova beats Sharapova, Jankovic beats Ivanovic, then Jankovic wins the title…
Jankovic will be No.2, Ivanovic will be No.3 and Kuznetsova will be No.4
• If Sharapova beats Kuznetsova and goes on to win the title (no matter who else reaches the final)…
• Ivanovic will be No.2, Sharapova will be No.3 and Jankovic will be No.4
• If Sharapova beats Kuznetsova, Ivanovic beats Jankovic, then Ivanovic wins the title…
• Ivanovic will be No.2, Jankovic will be No.3 and Sharapova will be No.4
• If Sharapova beats Kuznetsova, Jankovic beats Ivanovic, then Jankovic wins the title…
• Jankovic will be No.2, Ivanovic will be No.3 and Sharapova will be No.4 (WTA)