Martinez Sanchez goes to Indian Wells quarterfinals

Slow courts and heavy tennis balls. That sounds like a positive formula for someone like Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, and--sure enough--the Spanish clay court and doubles specialist has worked her way into the Indian Wells quarterfinals. Martinez Sanchez, who took out 3rd seed Victoria Azarenka in the third round, defeated 13th seed Yanina Wickmayer in the fourth round today. Martinez Sanchez, seeded 28th, is an aggressive player with a lot of shot variety who has had outstanding service stats throughout the tournament. She defeated Wickmayer 6-4, 6-4.

Defending champion Vera Zvonareva, seeded 12th, also made an exit today. She was defeated by 8th seed Samantha Stosur. Stosur's 6-2, 7-5 victory places her in the top 10. Stosur is now 4-2 head-to-head against Zvonareva, and has beaten her four times in a row.

6th seed Jelena Jankovic defeated 17th seed Shahar Peer 6-2, 6-2; Peer had serious problems with her serve throughout the match. Also winning were 5th seed Agnieszka Radwanska (def. 11th seed Marion Bartoli), 4th seed Elena Dementieva (def. 19th seed Aravane Rezai), 18th seed Zheng Jie (def. wild card Alicia Molik), and 23rd seed Alisa Kleybanova (def. Carla Suarez Navarro).

2nd seed Caroline Wozniacki defeated 16th seed Nadia Petrova 6-3, 3-6, 6-0. Wozniacki has obviously been working on her serve, and is looking sharp in this tournament.

Here is the quarterfinal draw:

Alisa Kleybanova vs. Jelena JankovicMaria Jose Martinez Sanchez vs. Samantha Stosur
Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Elena Dementieva
Zheng Jie vs. Caroline Wozniacki