Sportmaster International

   Indian Wells, California - Maria Sharapova survived a first-set scare to keep her win streak alive at 18 straight matches with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 defeat of Daniela Hantuchova on Wednesday at the Indian Wells Masters.

   The Russian fourth seed, unbeaten since the start of the year, rallied from 2- down in the first set as she put out the two-time winner and holder from Slovakia in just under two hours.    Sharapova, reigning Australian Open champion, will face a semi-final against Russian second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova,

who beat Polish 10th seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-4.    The Russian has lost only one set so far during the event. ‘I played better first set, but in the second she played a little bit better, and I missed few,’ said Kuznetsova.    ’I'm confident playing out there. It was good win for me after playing her in Australian Open (third round loss).’    Sharapova leads the series against her compatriot 4-3 winning the pair’s last two matches.    Men’s number two Rafael Nadal and third seed Novak Djokovic reached the quarter-finals, paving the way for top seed Roger Federer to join them later.    Federer, a three-time champion who lost in the second round to Coria last year, was facing off against Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, whom he has beaten ten times on hard court.    Nadal won a grudge battle with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, beating the Australian Open finalist 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-3), 7-5. Djokovic, last year’s losing finalist to the Spaniard, had an easier time over Guillermo Canas 6-2, 6-3.    ’It was not revenge, not a special match, but this was an important win for me,’ said Nadal. ‘He’s going to be one of the rivals for this year.    ’These matches are very important always.’    A three-hour, three-minute struggle with a comeback from 5-2 down in the final set brought Nadal full circle over Tsonga after losing a Melbourne semi-final to the breakout Frenchman two months ago.    Tsonga served for victory leading 5-3 in the final set, a double- fault and a forehand unforced error to lose the game keeping Nadal in the chase.    Another break of Tsonga for 6-5 put the three-time Roland Garros winner in the driving seat, with Nadal closing out the tight victory on the first of three match points a game later.    ’The ball and the court is a little bit different here,’ said Nadal. ‘There’s a lot more topspin than in Australia, so that helped me a little bit.    ’I played better today than in Australia, but the conditions are better here for me.’    Djokovic called himself ‘very happy to finish in straight sets,’ against Canas. ‘Guillermo is a very tough opponent.  He runs a lot and he gives a lot of balls back.    ’I needed to be aggressive and just play my game and just try to finish the point as soon as possible but be patient at the same time.’    Argentine seventh seed David Nalbandian reached the last eight as he dispatched Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-2, 6-2. Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka defeated Lee Hyung-taik of South Korea 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.    Resurgent German Tommy Haas stunned Scot Andy Murray, seeded 11th, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.