TENNIS in DEPTH.

Vera Zvonareva will take on Ana Ivanovic in the final of the Indian Wells tournament after both players eased through their semis.

Fourth seed Zvonareva saw off her doubles partner Victoria Azarenka 6-3 6-3, before Ivanovic overcame 17-year-old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 6-3.

Zvonareva kept her nerve on the big points in an evenly matched contest, converting four of five break points.

And Ivanovic ended Pavlyuchenkova’s impressive run with a dominant display.

But despite the fairly one-sided scoreline, Ivanovic was not overly impressed with her form.

“I was really happy with my performance,” she said.

“She’s not an easy opponent; she doesn’t give you much rhythm. Going into the match, I didn’t know anything about her. I just tried to play my game and be aggressive on her serve.”

And the fifth seed predicts a bright future for her schoolgirl opponent who beat Jelena Jankovic on the way to the last four.

“She can be very dangerous. She had a great run this week, beating top 10 players,” Ivanovic said.

“That’s very good and should give her a lot of confidence.”

Meanwhile, Zvonareva came through a tricky tie against Azarenka, who had overturned top seed Dinara Safina in the previous round.

The Belarussian could have put pressure on Zvonareva with a pair of break points in the ninth game, but she squandered both to allow the first set to slip away.

Zvonareva faced another three break points in the eighth game of the second to protect her lead and closed out the match with ruthless efficiency.

“I’m pretty happy with my game. I had a few mistakes here and there, but I was going for my shots,” she said.

The pair will be on the same side of the court when they take on Gisela Dulko and Shahar Peer in Saturday’s doubles final.

Success in both finals would make Zvonareva the first dual winner in the tournament since Lindsay Davenport in 2000.

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Andy Roddick beat defending champion Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-2 Friday to reach the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open.

No. 7 Roddick

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Roger Federer will skip the Monte Carlo Masters next month, while Rafael Nadal will attempt a record fifth straight title.

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Victoria Azarenka will break into the Top 10 by virtue of reaching the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour projects.

Azarenka, who is currently sitting at her career-high ranking of No.11, is expected to rise to No.10 with a semifinal finish, to No.9 with a runner-up finish and to No.8 with the title, pushing current No.10 Agnieszka Radwanska down to No.11. Nadia Petrova is now No.9 and Svetlana Kuznetsova is No.8.

Azarenka will become the second woman from Belarus ever to crack the Top 10, following Natasha Zvereva, who made it all the way to No.5 in the world in the late 1980s. Azarenka, 19, will be the only teenager in the Top 10 next week. She is also the first player in 2009 to debut in the Top 10 – the last player to break into the Top 10 for the first time was Radwanska, who did so after Wimbledon last summer.

Here’s what Victoria said in her own words…….”Wednesday night was very special for me because I won my match against Dinara (Safina), who was seeded number one here. It was the first time I beat her and now I

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Andy Murray set up a semi-final clash against Roger Federer at Indian Wells with a battling 7-5 7-6 (8-6) win over Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic.

The Briton began well when he broke in the first game and, even though he was broken back in the sixth, responded in the 11th to win the set.

The players again exchanged breaks in the next set but Murray held his nerve in the breaker to seal the win.

Federer beat Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-3 7-6 to reach the last four.

The Swiss world number two, playing his first tournament since losing a five-set final to Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open, eased through the first set and looked to be cruising when he took a 4-1 lead in the second.

But the four break points he saved in the third game was an indicator of trouble to come and Verdasco finally capitalised on his chances against Federer’s serve, breaking him twice to take a 6-5 lead.

However, the former world number one recovered to take the tie-break to set up a match against Murray on Saturday.

Federer, 27, has lost to Britain’s number one five times in seven meetings, including their last three matches, and he admits he is unsure how to counter the Scot.

“He’s a great player and great players are tough to play against,” he said. “He’s young, so you still have to figure him out a little bit. He’s changing his game as time goes by. Every time you play him, he plays a bit different.

“Whereas for me, it’s different. He knows what to expect. That’s the advantage of a youngster. There are disadvantages in that they’re a bit more inconsistent but he’s been very consistent, at a young age, which is impressive to see.”

And Murray, despite only recently recovering from a virus, insists he will go into the semi-final in confident mood, saying: “We know each others’ games pretty well. If I want to beat him, I need to play one of my best matches.

“It’s important to serve solid, make a lot of balls and not feel like you have to do anything special on each point to win against him.”

The 21-year-old might hope for better conditions than he endured during his quarter-final against Ljubicic, though, the wind hampering both players’ performances ensuring the match was hardly a hardcourt classic.

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Ana Ivanovic and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova made the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open Thursday, but they passed their quarterfinal tests in much different fashion.

Pavlyuchenkova was the first to advance to the final four, pulling off another big upset with a 76(8) 64 victory over No.7 seed Agnieszka Radwanska. Pavlyuchenkova, who took out No.2 seed Jelena Jankovic in the second round, saved two set points down 6-5 and 7-6 in the tie-break to take the all-important opening set.

“I thought about previous matches against her and just tried to avoid all of the mistakes I made before,” Pavlyuchenkova said. “The last time I played her was at Wimbledon last year. I think my game has improved a lot since then. I’m also more confident now. All these things, all these elements came together this time. Maybe this was just the time to beat her. I’m very happy about this win.”

Pavlyuchenkova’s win over the No.3-ranked Jankovic over the weekend was her first Top 10 win, and her win over No.10-ranked Radwanska was her second Top 10 win. This will also be her first singles semifinal on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.

“It’s my first time in the semis, so I’m very happy,” Pavlyuchenkova said. “I’ve played Agnieszka five or six times already so I’m so happy I beat her. She’s a very tough player for me. The way she plays and all of our matches are tough. But today I just thought I don’t care about the result, I’ll just play my game.”

Ivanovic, the No.5 seed this fortnight, advanced to the semifinals when No.23 seed Sybille Bammer withdrew before their match due to a left shoulder injury. Bammer had won the pair’s only previous Indian Wells meeting, beating Ivanovic here two years ago, but while the Serb sought revenge, the Austrian mother-on-Tour was unable to take the court because of her injured serving shoulder.

“At practice yesterday and this morning when I was warming up, I just couldn’t continue,” Bammer said. “It’s the first time I’ve had problems with my shoulder. Tonight I’ll have an MRI to check the shoulder, then I’ll rest and hope I am fine for Miami. I’m very disappointed, because I was playing better and better. Two years ago I beat Ana here, so it’s very frustrating for me to have to pull out.”

Ivanovic and Pavlyuchenkova will be playing each other for the first time.

“I’ve seen a lot of her on TV, so I know a little bit about her. She’s definitely a great player,” Pavlyuchenkova added. “What I need to do is just continue to do my job and be confident and play every point.”

Both semifinals, including the draw’s top half semifinal pitting No.4 seed Vera Zvonareva against No.8 seed Victoria Azarenka, will take the courts Friday.

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The Pakistan Tennis Federation have refused to play their relocated Davis Cup tie against the Philippines in Manila and instead want the Asia Oceania Group II semi-final moved to a neutral venue.

Pakistan were scheduled to host the tie in Lahore from July 10-12, but the International Tennis Federation (ITF) moved the matches to the Philippines due to security concerns following the attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team earlier this month.

But the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) now have security concerns about playing in Manila, with PTF president Dilawar Abbas saying: “We are very disappointed at the decision to move the Davis Cup match from Lahore to Manila.”

He added: “This is the second time we have been deprived of our home advantage this year and such steps will severely damage the progress of tennis in our country.

“We were told that the situation is Pakistan is currently not conducive for Davis Cup matches.

“The ITF says safety of players is of utmost importance, so we too have written to the ITF stating that the security situation in the Philippines is also a concern for us.

“Killings are taking place there and our players also feel threatened. They cannot give their best in such circumstances.”

The ITF decided to move the tie out of Pakistan after the Philippines Lawn Tennis Association raised security concerns.

“We believe that if the tie cannot take place in Pakistan then we should have the option of playing it at a neutral venue,” added Abbas.

“Malaysia or Singapore can host the tie. That would be better than sending our team to Manila.”

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