Maria Sharapova won both of her matches on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals as the Aegon Classic began to overcome delays caused by three days of showers.
After a first-round bye, it took Sharapova three days to complete her first win on grass this year, a 6-0, 6-3 defeat of US Fed Cup player Bethanie Mattek-Sands. She was then back on court for only 65 minutes for an even more impressive 6-3, 6-1 success against Alla Kudryavtseva, the fellow Russian who sensationally upset her at Wimbledon two years ago.
Both results proved encouraging for Sharapova, especially against Kudryavtseva, who briefly played as though she could spring another surprise, holding three points for a 4-1 lead with a double break of serve.
It required Sharapova to adopt a tenaciously positive attitude on an outside court in cold, blowy and miserably overcast conditions.
She hit 11 aces and conceded only two points on serve in the second set in a performance which suggested that her service was regaining some of the power which was once a formidable barometer of her game, but which lost potency following a shoulder operation two years ago.
Next for Sharapova will be Kazakh qualifier Sesil Karatantcheva, a former French Open quarter-finalist who completed her fifth win of the tournament by eliminating defending champion Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-2.
If the second-seeded Sharapova wins, she could play fourth-seeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, the steadily improving world No. 16 who won twice on Thursday against Laura Robson, the 16-year-old former Junior Wimbledon champion from Britain, and Tamarine Tanasugarn, the former Wimbledon quarter-finalist from Thailand.
Top-seeded Li Na of China beat Anne Keothavong of Britain 6-2, 6-4, then was tied with Angelique Kerber of Germany after two sets before darkness stopped play.
Also making it through to the quarter-finals were fourth-seeded Aravane Rezai of France, and US qualifier Alison Riske, ranked 192, who was due to face Wickmayer yesterday.
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