QUESTION
Did you say at the end of the match, This is my home now?

MARIA SHARAPOVA:
Well, I did, because in the first set I was playing like I didn't even belong on that court. I finally got my groove back, and it just felt like, you know, I finally belonged to be out there.
My level just was so low in that first set. I wasn't going up on my serve, I wasn't returning. I was making so many errors, and she had -- she had that first set in her hands and she just didn't take her opportunities.
You know, to be honest, she did everything better than I did in the first set, and somehow I ended up winning it, and that gave me the confidence. And in the end of that set I started to pick it up, but the second set was great.

Russian star Maria Sharapova dispatched No. 5 seed Daniela Hantuchova 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 Wednesday to reach the semifinals of the $2.1 million Pacific Life Open.

Maria, the fourth-seeded Australian Open champion, will meet No. 2 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semifinals. Kuznetsova eliminated No. 10 seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-2, 6-4 in her quarterfinal contest.

Sharapova, who won this tourney two years ago, is 18-0 this year. Kuznetsova was the 2007 U.S. Open runner-up and had lost to Hantuchova, a two-time champion here, in last year's Indian Wells final.

QUESTION
That was quite an escape there?

MARIA SHARAPOVA:
Uh-huh. Yeah, it was. You know, I felt like I was up throughout the match, and I just did a solid job of winning that first set and had so many opportunities in the second set to finish it off.
I was up a couple of breaks and just couldn't. She started playing really good tennis towards the end of that second set, and I just couldn't get my opportunities back, couldn't get those chances that I had in the beginning of the second set.
And in the fourth game, it was just a dog fight. I felt like I was pretty close to being down and out, because I wasn't able to produce, you know, good points for a long period of time. I was like a little kid that would make -- I was doing like a beaded bracelet. I would put four beads together and they would all fall down and then I'd start all over again.

Maria had a very tough match today at Indian Wells but she fought and she won to set up a quarter-final showdown with defending champion Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.  Maria defeated #15 seed Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine 6-2 5-7 6-4 in 2 hours and 45 minutes.

17th straight match wins for Maria now and out of all the wins she has dropped only 3 sets.

In the 1st set Maria broke Bondarenko in the 3rd game and again towards the end of the set and took the set 6-2.

QUESTION
She plays you tough for some reason? Why do you think?

MARIA SHARAPOVA:
It was a very scratchy match from my side today from the beginning. I was just not seeing the ball, not moving that great. She always -- she always plays tough, because you never really know what to expect from her.
You know, her serving pattern is always different. You know, she can hit really big serves, and then she all of a sudden she goes to like 90 miles per hour and does the same thing on the second serve.
So she doesn't quite give you a lot of rhythm, which, you know, which I should pick up really fast, and I didn't do that well today. You know, I wasn't moving quite well throughout the first set. I was Grandpa Joe out there (laughter.)
But it got better towards the end of the second set. I started seeing the ball better and moving in. I was just not moving in after my shots at all.