SERENA VS SHARAPOVA INTO FINAL OF INDIAN WELLS 2015?

History will be on the line as three players will have a chance to establish themselves as the BNP Paribas Open’s winningest women’s champion of all time. No. 1 Serena Williams, No. 2 Maria Sharapova and Daniela Hantuchova are among eight players to have won the BNP Paribas Open title twice. 

They join a select and impressive group that also includes Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin and Mary Joe Fernandez. The strong field with the potential to make history is adding buzz to the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells this year. Williams, a 19-time Grand Slam winner, comes into the BNP Paribas Open with an 11-match winning streak, and won the last two majors, the US and Australian Opens. The American world No. 1 was champion here in 1999 and 2001, having last lost at this event in 2000. This will be Williams’ first time back at the BNP Paribas Open, and she’s looking strong for a third title. “Serena has to be the favorite,” tournament director Steve Simon said. “When she’s playing well, she’s difficult to beat. She can go down as one of the best ever to play the game, and rightfully so.
” Sharapova, who won the title in 2006 and 2013, is also playing well this year, having won Brisbane, reached the finals of the Australian Open and won two matches against Agniszka and Urszula Radwanska in Fed Cup play. However, Sharapova had to pull out of her semifinal match in Acapulco with a stomach ailment. And it won’t be easy for Sharapova, as the Russian’s half of the draw includes former champion Ana Ivanovic, last year’s winner Flavia Pennetta, and 2012 champion Victoria Azarenka, whom Sharapova could meet in the third round. “Maria is a great champion,” Simon added. 
“She’s the most professional and one of the most competitive players who brings it every day. I saw she has Azarenka in the third round, so she has to be ready to go from the get go.” Hantuchova comes into the BNP Paribas Open unseeded, so unlike Sharapova and Williams, will have to play in the first round. Hantuchova, who won the title in 2002 and 2007, will open in the first round against Klara Koukalova and could face up-and-coming American Madison Keys in the second round. “She’s comfortable here and she likes it. I think the conditions suit her,” Simon said about Hantuchova. “When players are in environments they’re comfortable in, they play well. It would be fun to see if she can win it three times because she’s become a favorite here.” Williams is slated to meet world No. 3 Simona Halep in the semifinals should the seeds hold. Also on the top half of the draw is the elder Radwanska sister, a finalist here a year ago who is seeded 7th. No. 8 seed Ekaterina Makarova, a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist in the last nine months, could be Williams’ quarterfinal opponent.