"I felt like I was pretty close to being down and out because I wasn’t able to produce good points for a long period of
time," Sharapova said Tuesday post match. "I would play a good game, I would get down again and then I would miss three returns
in a row. I was just giving her so many opportunities out there."
"I wasn’t playing my best tennis, far from it, but I was just tough in the end and it gets me through a lot of matches."
In a quarterfinal match tonight not before 7:00pm local time, Sharapova meets 5th seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.
Head to head Sharapova leads Hantuchova 6-1, last winning at last year's WTA Tour Championships 6-4, 7-5.
Hantuchova, who won the Indian Wells title for the second time last season, realized the quarterfinal battle of the
two photogenic players would be a major challenge for her game.
"It’s going to be an exciting match," said Hantuchova. "She’s playing obviously in great form, so it will be a good test for
me. I feel like I own this place. I’m here and anything can happen.
"I’m confident, but obviously if I want to win, I have to play my best. Let’s see if I will be able to do that."
In today's other women's quarterfinal, 2nd seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova faces 10th seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
