Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova were put to the test in their third round matches, Sunday at the Pacific Life Open, but stayed on track for a return trip to the women’s final.

The second seeded Kuznetsova, last year’s runner-up to Daniela Hantuchova, opened the action Sunday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory against Slovak Dominika Cibulkova.

The 22-year-old Kuznetsova suffered a mid-match lapse as she lost five straight games to start off the second set but recaptured some momentum by winning the next four games. She said: “Definitely it was important because I still wanted to have some games under my belt. I didn't want to go to the third set 6-love down, so I changed that to give me key to play better in the third.”

Kuznetsova came out dominant in the third set, quickly rolling out to a 5-1 lead. Cibulkova saved the first two match points with Kuznetsova serving for the win at 5-2, but was broken in the next game as the Russian put away the match in one hour and 48 minutes.

Sharapova had an easier time with Greece’s Eleni Daniilidou, but was still made to work for nearly two hours before posting the 7-5, 6-3 win.
 
“It was a very scratchy match from my side today from the beginning,” said Sharapova, the 2006 Pacific Life Open champion. “I was just not seeing the ball, not moving that great. She always plays tough because you never really know what to expect from her.”
 
The 20-year-old improved to a perfect 6-0 record against Daniilidou, as well as a 16-0 record for the season. In her first two Tour events of the year, Sharapova won her third career Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and her 18th career Tour singles title at Doha.

Sharapova next faces 15th-seeded Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko, who swept aside former World No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo 6-1, 6-2 in 64 minutes. The 23-year-old Bondarenko advances to the fourth round at this event for the first time in her four appearances.

Defending champion Daniela Hantuchova eased to the win on her 'home' court, defeating Jie Zheng 6-4, 6-2 to start off the night session. The Slovak, who won her first Tour title here in 2002, will next play India's Sania Mirza, an upset winner over No. 9 seed Shahar Peer, 6-7(7), 7-5, 6-3.

Hantuchova assessed her fourth round opponent: “She's a big hitter. You never know what to expect. It's going to be a tough match, but again, I hope I'll be playing on my court, and there anything can happen. But I know I'm going to enjoy it and I'll see. I will just do my best and see what happens.”

American Ashley Harkleroad, meanwhile, upset eight-seeded Russian Dinara Safina 7-5, 6-2 and will next face No. 10 seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, a three-set winner over China’s Shuai Peng.