By Chris Oddo | Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Flavia Pennetta’s emotions got the best of her during her three-set battle with Maria Sharapova, but the feisty Italian would not let her world-class opponent do the same.

Pennetta fought back tears, and let a few slip through after the first set before heading off court for a brief respite, en route to a hard-fought 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over the second-seeded Russian.

“Just a lot of emotion in one night,” Pennetta told reporters after the match. “Sometimes women have these moments, so I was trying to handle. I just breathe and just let it pass, and in the end it was much better.”

Pennetta’s emotional angst triggered speculation that she might be preparing to announce her retirement after the match. The Italian subdued those rumors afterwards but admitted that she was aware that the time is coming.

“Of course I'm well,” she said. “I love to play. But of course for sure there is a moment where I have to stop. I don't know when, but it's coming.”

Pennetta’s ninth straight win at Indian Wells, and third straight over Sharapova, sets up a quarterfinal with Sabine Lisicki. Sharapova’s 11 double faults and 42 unforced errors made things difficult for her, and after Pennetta took the second set, she jumped out to a big lead in the decider before closing Sharapova off.

The Italian credited her ability to stay in backhand crosscourt rallies with Sharapova as one of the reasons she’s had success against her in the past.

“I think I have the good backhand, and with her she play normally like the crosscourt really, really fast,” she said. “Most of the players don't take the first two or three shots with her. For me, was easy. I mean, my backhand is the good shot, the natural shot that I have… with the backhand, the crosscourt, for me, it's really easy to just stay there and play one more, one more, one more.”