Defending champion Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic all progressed at the Pacific Life Open, but two-time former winner Lleyton Hewitt was eliminated.

Nadal came from a set down and 5-2 behind in the third to scrape past Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7 7-6 7-5 in the fourth round.

In a repeat of this year's Australian Open semi-final in which Tsonga upset the Spaniard, Nadal gained revenge by winning a fluctuating encounter in just over three hours.

"A victory like this is always special and it gives me confidence," second seed Nadal told reporters after dropping his first set of the tournament.

"I played better today than in Australia, but the conditions are better here for me."

Smooth progress was also made by three-times champion Federer and third-seeded Serb Djokovic, Federer outplaying Croat Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 6-4 after Djokovic had earlier crushed Argentina's Guillermo Canas 6-2 6-3.

But Hewitt was knocked out by American Mardy Fish, who beat the Australian for the first time 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-4).

"It was close the whole way," Hewitt said.

"He served well. I had a few slight chances in the third set and I wasn't really under a lot of pressure on my serve in the third set.

"He played a great serving tiebreak to finish it off."

Germany's Tommy Haas came from a set down to upset 11th-seeded Briton Andy Murray 2-6 7-5 6-3 and Argentina's David Nalbandian, the seventh seed, brushed aside Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-2 6-2.

In the women's draw, former champion Maria Sharapova maintained her perfect start to the season to join fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the Pacific Life Open semi-finals.

Sharapova, the Australian Open champion and fourth seed, stormed back from 5-2 down in the first set to beat holder Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 7-6 6-1 in an evening quarter-final at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The 20-year-old will face Kuznetsova in the last four after the second seed swept past Polish teenager Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 6-4.

"In the first set, I felt like I didn't even belong on that court but I finally got my groove back," Sharapova told reporters after beating Hantuchova for the seventh time in eight career meetings.

"My level just was so low in that first set. I was making so many errors and she had that first set in her hands but she just didn't take her opportunities.

"She did everything better than I did in the first set and somehow I ended up winning it. That gave me the confidence and in the end of that set I started to pick it up. The second set was great."

Kuznetsova, who was upset by Radwanska in the Australian Open third round in January, broke her 19-year-old opponent in the first and third games of the opening set on the Stadium Court.

After service breaks were traded early in the second set, the 22-year-old Russian, last year's Indian Wells runner-up, broke in the seventh game before serving out for victory.

"That was pretty good," Kuznetsova said after reaching her third WTA semi-final of the year. "I played better in the first set and missed a few (opportunities) in the second but overall it was still pretty good."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP