Past champion Maria Sharapova will play top seed Caroline Wozniacki for a place in the BNP Paribas Open final after overcoming China's Peng Shuai 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 on Thursday in Indian Wells.
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It will be the fourth time that Sharapova and Wozniacki are facing off in tour-level competition. Sharapova won their first two meetings before Wozniacki defeated the Russian in straight sets last year at the US Open.
“She's the No. 1 player in the world, and she certainly deserves it,” said Sharapova, who held the No. 1 ranking for 17 weeks, most recently in 2007. “She's doing a lot of things really well right now and she's a very consistent player. That has won her many, many matches.
“I didn't have a great match against her at the US Open. I didn't feel like I played that well. I'm hoping that tomorrow I'll come out and it will be a different situation. I'm just gonna fight for every point. I look forward to it.”
Sharapova spent nearly two more hours on court than Wozniacki, who advanced after 26 minutes of play when Victoria Azarenka retired with a left hip injury.
Though Sharapova made a comfortable start to the match, going up a set and a break, she dropped serve three times in the second set to allow the 36th-ranked Peng to draw level. She lost serve two more times in the decisive set, but took full advantage of her break points, going 4 for 4 on her chances to close out the victory.
