Rafael Nadal stormed into the quarter-finals but it was a bruising day on the hardcourts for the women on Tuesday as the top seeds buckled under the California desert heat.
Defending champ Maria Sharapova, three-time Australian Open winner Martina Hingis and 2005 French Open semi-finalist Nadia Petrova all crashed out of the US$5.3 million ATP/WTA Pacific Life Open as three of the top four seeds were sent packing.
Two-time defending Roland Garros champ Nadal breezed into the quarter-finals by overpowering compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1, 6-1.
PHOTO: EPA
The lefthanded Spaniard and World No. 2 needed just over one hour to dismantle Ferrero, who is a former world No. 1.
"I am happy with my game right now," Nadal said. "I am playing so much better with my backhand."
Sharapova fell to Russian compatriot Vera Zvonareva, two days after three-time men's defending champion Roger Federer went down in his first match to lucky loser Guillermo Canas.
Temperatures in the Palm Springs area have been 10oC above normal this week and there appeared to be no letting up in the scorching heat as the tournament moved into its second week.
The heat took its toll on both sexes as players who forgot to hydrate before and after matches paid a steep price.
Petrova pulled out of her match in the second set with French 13th seed Tatiana Golovin because of heat exhaustion.
Croatian Ivan Ljubicic was one service break away from retiring with a knee injury in his fourth round match before rallying to beat David Nalbandian 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Ljubicic advances to the quarter-finals, where he plays US third seed Andy Roddick, who beat France's Richard Gasquet 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 in the night match.
Nadal avenged a loss to Ferrero at the Cincinnati Masters Series 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/3) last year.
"This victory is important for me after losing to him last year," Nadal said. "He made more mistakes than he normally does."
Nadal's quarter-final opponent will be Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela, who also won on Tuesday.
Russian second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova rolled over Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-2, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals.
The 22-year-old Zvonareva moves into the quarter-finals for the second time in four years and top seed Sharapova loses her world No. 1 tag to Belgium's Justin Henin.
Sharapova needed to reach the semi-finals to hold on to top spot but will lose it when the next WTA Tour rankings come out after Henin swept through the Middle East recently, winning back-to-back tournaments.
"A loss is a loss. It is always disappointing," Sharapova said of the 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 defeat. "I am not making any excuses. ... It is one of those days where it didn't happen."
Daniela Hantuchova upset third seed Hingis 6-4, 6-3 and moves to the quarter-finals where she will square off against Shahar Peer.
Hantuchova, 23, is the lone player on the men's or women's side remaining who has won this tournament before.
She made a name for herself when she beat Hingis in the 2002 Indian Wells final by an almost identical 6-3, 6-4 score.
The 26-year-old Swiss star Hingis says Hantuchova's game gives her fits.
"She's smart. She knows what I am doing. She reads my game," Hingis said.
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