Sport - Tennis

Kuznetsova ends Sharapova’s run; Fish springs a surprise on Nalbandian

— PHOTO: Harry How/Getty Images

INTRIGUING MATCH-UP: Svetlana Kuznetsova was good enough to stop Maria Sharapova who was running hot, and the win brought their head-to-head count to 4-4.

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.

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.

Federer, going for his fourth Indian Wells title in five years, reached the semifinals when his quarterfinal opponent, Tommy Haas, had to forfeit because of a sinus infection. Defending champion and No. 2 Rafael Nadal will play No. 3 Novak Djokovic, the Australian Open champion, in the other semifinal.

The 26-year-old Fish, making his sixth appearance in the desert tournament, lost to Federer in the fourth round in 2004, again in the second round the following year, and to Nadal in the third round two years ago.

On his way to the semifinals this year, Fish beat No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-2 and No. 24 and two-time champion Lleyton Hewitt 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(4).

After Nalbandian broke his serve to go up 6-5 in the third set, Fish came right back to break the Argentine’s serve and set up the tiebreaker. Then at 4-4 in the tiebreaker, Fish pulled away with what had worked for him during the rest of the match — he hit three consecutive forehands for winners, then capped the match with an overhead.

Fish wasn’t sure why he has played so well this week, although he said he has a new trainer, has been working harder and feels stronger and fresher than in the past.

Asked about his company in the semifinals, the top three players in the world, Fish said: “And me.”

“I guess the only thing you can go by is what your ranking is. I obviously don’t feel like I’m the 98th-ranked player in the world, or playing like that. I’ve got a lot of self-confidence,” said Fish, ranked as high as No. 17 four years ago.

Because Federer got a walkover, he’ll have an extra day of rest before the semifinals.

“As if he needs any more ammo,” Fish said. “Hopefully he’ll be a little too rested, maybe.”

Nalbandian wasn’t surprised by Fish’s play. “On this surface, when the surface is fast, he’s very dangerous all the time,” Nalbandian said.

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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