Dementieva wins in IW

The tournament favorites had been dropping like flies in the last few days but it was a good day for the top seeds for a change, as Caroline Wozniacki, Elena Dementieva, Agnieszka Radwanska and Jelena Jankovic all moved into the quarterfinals without too much trouble.

Dementieva and Radwanska were the first win. Dementieva, the No.4 seed, beat No.19 seed Aravane Rezai, 63 63; Radwanska, the No.5 seed, beat No.11 seed Marion Bartoli, 63 62. Dementieva and Radwanska maintained perfect records against those opponents.

"I'm improving a little bit with each match here. I hope to improve some more before my next match against Agnieszka," said Dementieva, who has lost three of her five previous meetings with Radwanska; they will meet in the quarters. "It's going to be a completely different match next. It's about my game. I need to create something, go for the winner. I can't just go on the court and be patient, because there's nothing to wait for. Agnieszka doesn't make any mistakes."

Wozniacki and Jankovic followed their fellow Top 10 players into the quarters later in the day. Seeded No.2, Wozniacki recovered from a second set slump and charged through a 30-minute third set to beat No.16 seed Nadia Petrova, 63 36 60; Jankovic, the No.6 seed, beat No.17 seed Shahar Peer, 62 62.

"I had a tough match last night and I didn't know how I would hold up physically. And Shahar is a really dangerous opponent," Jankovic said. "I just had to hold my ground and go for my shots. I'm really happy with my performance. I never backed up. I just kept going for my shots, served well and returned well."

Wozniacki is the highest seed left, but doesn't necessarily look beyond the next match: "I believe in myself, but I never actually look at the draw. I take it one match at a time, because there are a lot of great players out there. I could have been out in my first match."

Although it wasn't an upset on paper, No.8 seed Samantha Stosur's 62 75 win over No.12 seed Vera Zvonareva did mean one thing - there will be a new Indian Wells champion this year. Zvonareva was one of six players in this year's draw who had won the Premier title before, but the only one in the round of 16.

In other day session matches, No.18 seed Zheng Jie beat wildcard Alicia Molik, 63 46 76(1), winning 11 of the last 12 points of the match; No.28 seed Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez beat No.13 seed Yanina Wickmayer, 64 64.

"Last time I played Zheng I lost to her," said Wozniacki, who hasn't taken a set off of Zheng in their two previous meetings; they will play in the quarters. "She's a great player. She has had a great start to the year, playing aggressively and taking the balls early - I need to be ready and focused."

In a very late match, No.23 seed Alisa Kleybanova, a day after upsetting No.14 seed Kim Clijsters, rallied from 62 41 down to beat Carla Suarez Navarro, 26 76(2) 64. The Spaniard had taken out No.1 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova earlier in the tournament; she also served for the match at 62 54.