Pavlyuchenkova's reward is a semi-final berth where she'll take on defending champion Ana Ivanovic, who earned a walkover into the semis after Austrian Sybille Bammer withdrew from the tournament with a left shoulder injury.

“First time in the semis, of course I'm very happy, but I beat Agnieszka. We played five or six times before. She's a very tough player for me… I knew it was going to be tough, so I'm very happy I went through,” Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova told the BNP Paribas Open official website.

Andy Murray – Ivan Ljubicic 7-5 7-6

In the men’s game, Andy Murray spoiled the 30th birthday celebrations of Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic.

After exchanging early breaks of serve in breezy conditions on court, Murray broke Ljubicic in the 11th game to take the opening set 7-5.

Murray then produced a strong finish in the second-set tiebreak to wrap up the match and extend his stunning start to the season now to 19 wins and just one defeat.

“I never felt that intimidated facing top players. Each time you face a top player you have to get used to playing at his level. But in the last six months I got able to get to that level much quicker than I had done in the past and keep that level,” said Murray.

Roger Federer – Fernando Verdasco 6-3 7-6

And the 21-year-old Brit will now face Roger Federer in the semi-finals after the three-times champion disposed of Fernando Verdasco in straight sets.

And it all looked fairly simple for the 2nd seed as he took the opening set 6-3, before booking his place in the last four, courtesy of a second set tie-break.