Maria is through to the semis at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells after a 7-6 6-2 in just over two hours over No.6 seed Sara Errani of Italy.

The first set was very tight and after a trade of breaks at the beginning of the set, Errani got the next break to lead 4-3. At 5-4, Errani was serving for the set but Maria broke Errani to love to level the set 5-5. The set was decided by a tie-break which Maria won 8-6 after saving some set points.

A big return from Maria gave Maria the first break in the second set to lead 2-1 and after a trade of breaks in the next two games, Maria had a break advantage to lead 3-2. The impressive run continued as Maria won the next three games for her third consecutive win against the Italian

In the semis to be played on Friday at 8.30 PM local time, Maria will play No.13 seed Maria Kirilenko of Russia and they have played six times before and Maria leads the series 4-2. Here are the matches they have played against each other:
2005 Los Angeles R2: Maria won 7-6 6-2
2005 Beijing Semi-Final: Kirilenko won 6-4 2-1 ret
2006 Miami R4: Maria won 3-6 6-4 6-1
2010 Australian Open R1: Kirilenko won 7-6 3-6 6-4
2012 Indian Wells Quarter-Final: Maria won 3-6 7-5 6-2
2012 Olympics Semi-Final: Maria won 6-2 6-3