Maria, Novak in semis

Top seed and defending champ Novak Djokovic stepped up his bid for his third Indian Wells title by easing past 12th seed Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday.
World number one Djokovic has now beaten Almagro in all three career meetings and he has reached the Indian Wells semis for the third year in a row.
Djokovic, who has won the last three Grand Slams, is coming off one of the best years in the history of tennis, as he started off 2011 with 41 consecutive match wins. He is now 14-1 in 2012.
"I have had a lot of success here in the past and won it twice," said Djokovic. "Last year was incredible. I may not be able to repeat what I did but I will try my best."
The Serbian next faces American 11th seed John Isner who defeated Gilles Simon of France 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 in the other quarterfinal.
Djokovic hammered five aces and won 77 percent of his first serve points in the 82 minute match Thursday.
On the womens side of the draw three time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova rallied to defeat fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 to reach the semifinals Thursday.
Sharapova needed three hours and five minutes to dispatch Kirilenko in their first meeting since the opening round of the 2010 Australian Open, which Kirilenko won in three sets.
"I tried to keep my head up today even though I wasn't playing my best," said Sharapova, who won the Indian Wells title in 2006. "Towards the end I started to play better and move better."
Sharapova will face another former Indian Wells winner, Ana Ivanovic, in the semis after the Serbian eased past a stricken Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-4 in a rematch of their quarterfinal contest from last year.