Russians roll into California quarter-finals

The two-time Grand Slam champion, the 2006 champion, continues to play through her lingering shoulder injury which has left her game at something less than 100 per cent.

 She crushed French 13th seed Tatiana Golovin 6-0, 6-3.  The 20-year-old Sharapova is competing for the first time in a month since losing in the Wimbledon fourth round against Venus Williams.

 Despite winning the first nine games, Sharapova said she still had to work for the win.

 "It was not as easy as it looked, a lot of the game went to deuce. I gave back two breaks in the second set and was lucky to get the win in straight sets.

 "My shoulder is still not 100 per cent and it hurts on occasion. But I just want to play. Doctors have told me that it can't get worse and will eventually heal."

   The problem required a pain-killing cortisone shot in the spring before the French Open.

 Unseeded Maria Kirilenko knocked out second seed Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 to take her place in a first quarter-final this season.

 The 42nd-ranked winner failed in her first chance to serve it out in the third set, but held her nerve to close down the Serbian world number three.

 Third-seeded Anna Chakvetadze continued to set a brutal pace on the summer hard courts with her 11th straight win, a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Japan's veteran Ai Sugiyama.

 The on-fire number six has already lifted titles in Cincinnati and Stanford.

 Nadia Petrova, seeded fourth, added another Russian name to the last eight after putting out Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik 6-3, 7-6 (12-10).

 Two-time Grand Slam winner and ninth seed Elena Dementieva rounded out the winning quintet, defeating Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli of France 6-4, 7-5.

 Bartoli, beaten in the All England Club final by Venus Williams, said she is not concerned after going a modest 1-2 since leaving the grass.

 "I'm not worried about my game, I just need to make some adjustments," said Bartoli, 22, who is ranked 12th.

 Patty Schnyder scored an important psychological victory as she beat celebrated Swiss compatriot Martina Hingis in a roller-coaster 6-1, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3.

 Daniela Hantuchova, seeded sixth, had no defence against the on-fire Williams, who dominated 6-0, 6-3 in their third-round encounter.

 The only seed to lose was number eight Russian Dinara Safina, downed 6-1, 6-2 to India's Sania Mirza, winner of seven of her last eight matches in a summer hot streak.

DPA