Sharapova Seeking 17th Straight Win

INDIAN WELLS, California (Ticker) -- Maria Sharapova is not the only player with a streak on the line at the Pacific Life Open. The fourth-seeded Russian seeks her 17th win in as many matches this season when she faces No. 15 Alona Bondarenko on Tuesday in one of eight fourth-round matches.

Meanwhile, defending champion and fifth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova will put her eight-match streak at this $2.1 million hardcourt event on the line against No. 21 Sania Mirza. Not to be outdone, 31-year-old Lindsay Davenport has won seven straight overall, including a victory over Olga Gorvortsova in the championship match at Memphis earlier this month.

Sharapova's run is by far the most impressive of the bunch, as the 20-year-old has won 32 of 34 sets this season and captured titles at the Australian Open and Doha. An 18-time champion on tour, Sharapova won this event in 2006. Hantuchova has just three career titles, but two of those trophies have come at this event. Also a winner here in 2002 as a teenager, the 24-year-old Slovak is just 3-2 since reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open.

Davenport, who will face sixth-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli, is no stranger to success at this tournament. She won this event in 1997 and 2000 and is a four-time runner-up, with her last final appearance coming in 2005.

All six of the tops seeds here are in action Tuesday, including No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, who meets No. 13 Francesca Schiavone of Italy. The runner-up to Sharapova in Melbourne, Ivanovic has yet to claim a title this season despite reaching a career-high No. 2 world ranking. The 20-year-old Serb has played here each of the past two years, reaching the quarterfinals in 2006. Second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, the runner-up to Hantuchova last season, and third seed Jelena Jankovic also will be in action Tuesday. First prize is $332,000.

PHOTO: Brad Cox/NC Sports