Fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska eased past fourth seed Elena Dementieva 6-4 6-3 to move into the semifinals of the Premier-level tournament BNP Paribas Open, where the Pole will play close friend Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark who advanced to the final four with a 6-4 4-6 6-1 victory over seed No.18 Zheng Jie of China.

Radwanska converted six of her eight break opportunities against Dementieva, had her own serve broken only once, and hasn’t lost a set at Indian Wells. The Russian was left frustrated after the match, because the weather was perfect for tennis, but she played the wrong game, long rallies that suited Radwanska.

The second-seeded Wozniacki survived a difficult match against Zheng and defeated the Chinese for the first time in their three meetings. The 19-year-old Wozniacki broke Zheng three times in the third set and let out a shriek of delight the moment she won the match which ensures her return to her career-high ranking of No.3.

Even though they are good friends, Wozniacki and Radwanska have competed only twice so far on the tennis court and are tied at 1-1. (photos: Tidalist, chascow)

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All Top 10 members playing the BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday progressed to the quarterfinals of the tournament without too much trouble.

World No.7 Elena Dementieva and world No.8 Agnieszka Radwanska retained perfect records against their fourth-round opponents at Indian Wells with the Russian fourth seed beating No.19 seed Aravane Rezai 6-3 6-3, and now having a 6-0 career record against the Frenchwoman, while fifth seed Radwanska beat No.11 seed Marion Bartoli 6-3 6-2, extending the career record against the Wimbledon finalist to 5-0.

World No.4 Caroline Wozniacki, second seed and the highest seed left in the draw, recovered from a second set slump and charged through the deciding set to beat seed No.16 Nadia Petrova 6-3 3-6 6-0. Wozniacki's opponent in the quarterfinals will be Chinese force Zheng Jie, who knocked out Maria Sharapova in the third round and Alicia Molik in the fourth. Ninth-ranked Jelena Jankovic defeated No.17 seed Shahar Peer 6-2 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Premier-level tournament.

Even though all the Top 10 players progressed, defending champion Vera Zvonareva, seeded 12th, lost to No.8 seed Samantha Stosur 6-2 7-5. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: Tidalist)

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Former world number seven Nicole Vaidisova has retired at the young age of 20 and is planning to marry long-time boyfriend Radek Stepanek in July.

The Czech was once one of the brightest new stars, and her indisputably good looks only added to her popularity, but in the recent years her results were more than disappointing, especially having in mind her wasted talent.

The fact that Vaidisova lost in the first round of an ITF tournament this year is making her retirement from the sport less of a shocking decision. Her last tennis match was loss to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in Memphis second round last month.

Vaidisova has just informed the upcoming Sony Ericsson Open in Miami that she’s rejecting a wildcard and pulled out of all her tournaments the rest of the season.

Vaidisova is ending her tennis career ranked 176th, with six WTA Tour titles under her belt – the last one came a long time ago, in Strasbourg in 2006. In addition, she can be proud of two semifinals Grand Slam showings, at the 2006 French Open and 2007 Australian Open. (source: Tennis Reporters, photo: Stephane Martinache)

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Seed No.14 Kim Clijsters and third seed Victoria Azarenka made premature exits at the BNP Paribas Open, while sixth seed Jelena Jankovic fought her way into the fourth round.

Two-time Indian Wells champion Kim Clijsters lost to Alisa Kleybanova 6-4 1-6 7-6(4) in the third round, despite storming through the second set and having a 4-0 lead in the third-set tiebreak.

"I definitely think I let it slip away but credit to her," said Clijsters after losing to the No.23 seed. "She played some really good points to get back into it."

Victoria Azarenka fell to 28th-seeded Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 7-6(4) 6-2 at the very tournament that propelled her into the Top 10 last year. The Belorussian quickly fell behind 5-1 and even though she saved four set points and leveled to 5-5, she lost the first set and shortly after the second as well.

Sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic beat Sara Errani 2-6 7-6(6) 6-4 despite making 57 unforced errors compared to Errani's 42. The world No.9 quickly lost the first set, won the second in a tiebreak, and let her experience prevail in the decider of the marathon match to prevent Errani from scoring her first Top-10 victory in 12 attempts. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

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Seed No.18 Zheng Jie overcame tenth seed Maria Sharapova 6-3 2-6 6-3 after two hours and 43 minutes of topsy-turvy marathon in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.

Sharapova made 14 double faults, 62 unforced errors and was broken seven times during the match. Zheng broke Sharapova's serve three times in the first set, then the Russian leveled after the second set which lasted one hour and eight minutes, and finally, Zheng came back from 3-1 down in the decider to win the match.

"She's like a ball machine. She hits a lot of balls back, hits them hard and deep. I should have done a much better job on her serve because that is definitely one of her weaker parts of the game," said the world No.13 Sharapova, who received treatment for her right elbow during the match.

The 26-year-old Chinese, a surprise semifinalist at this year's Australian Open, will next play Australian wildcard Alicia Molik. (source: Reuters, photo: Nick Bollettieri)

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