Murray Enters Quarter Finals and Li shines at the Pacific Life Open

In the fourth round of the men's draw at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, Number four seed Nikolay Davydenko, was defeated a 7-6(3), 6-4 by Andrew Murray of Scotland. Though he threw away a golden opportunity to wrap up the first set in the tenth game, Murray the number 13 seed, fought back bravely. He came back strongly from a break down to force a tiebreaker and the take the set 7-3. 

"Yes, it was a good match. Served well in the important moments. Played tough at the end. Didn't start too well, but managed to hang in at the end of the first set when I had the four set points at 5-4, and then I got broken to go 6-5 down and came back well. So, I was happy to come through," he said.

In last years edition of the Pacific Life Open, Murray was knocked out by Davydenko and he had sweet revenge on Wednesday with a 7-6(3), 6-4 victory that contained 10 aces. It was the 19 year olds second victory over Davydenko this year, following a straight sets win in Doha. The rising star has continued his rapid rise in the tennis hierarchy, willing 18 of the 21 matches that he has played in 2007, including a successful defense of his title in San Jose.

In the women's category, China's Li defeated Russia's Zvonareva who had earlier knocked out top seed Maria Sharapova 6-4, 7-5. Li had the edge over her number 15 seed opponent, keeping Zvonareva on the run with a succession of measured ground strokes

Li has advanced to the semi-finals of a tier one event for the second time in her career and she will face either Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova or Shahar Peel of Israel in the last four.