Men’s semifinals at Indian Wells features a clash between Spaniard Rafael Nadal and American Andy Roddick–hot, hot, hot!! Second seed Nadal made short work of Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina in the quarterfinals (7-5, 7-5). Third seed Roddick beat Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia in two tough sets that went to tie break (7-6 (7), 7-6 (8)).
I was excited because I was playing the way I wanted to in the breakers. I kept going forward. I won some points. I lost some points. I hit a new little chip short one, that won me a couple points. I was happy with that. I thought all in all, I gave myself a chance to win and eventually was able to do it.”
– Andy Roddick
The other side of the men’s bracket will be Novak Djokovic (12) of Serbia against either Andy Murray (13) of Scotland or Tommy Haas (9) of Germany.
In women’s semifinal action at Indian Wells, second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia defeated 33rd seed Sybille Bammer of Austria (6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1). Daniela Hantuchova, seeded 14th and hailing from Slovakia, overcame Na Li of China who was seeded 12th (7-5, 4-6, 6-1). Hantuchova and Kuznetsova battle tomorrow to see who will wear the ladies’ crown at Indian Wells in 2007.
