Wimbledon tennis champion Maria Sharapova struggled but has managed to reach the quarterfinals of the DFS Classic women's tournament in Birmingham, England.
The top-seeded Russian had to bounce back from a second-set loss to win the match against Australia's Samantha Stosur in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Sharapova next plays Eleni Daniilidou of Greece, who reached the final eight with a straight-set win over number-eight seed Ai Sugiyama of Japan (6-3, 6-3).
In other matches, third-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro scored a straight-set win over Venezuela's Milagros Sequera (6-1, 6-4). Jankovic takes on American Mashona Washington, who beat Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain (6-2, 6-4).
American Laura Granville defeated countrywoman Jamea Jackson in straight sets (7-5, 6-4). Granville takes on Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn, who overcame a first-set loss to beat French player Stephanie Foretz in three sets (2-6, 6-3, 6-3).
Russian Anna Chakvetadze ousted sixth-seeded Shinobu Asagoe of Japan (6-4, 6-4). The Russian faces fifth seed Tatiana Golovin of France, a straight-set winner over Rika Fujiwara of Japan (6-4, 6-4).
The grass-court tournament is a key warm-up for the Wimbledon Championships, which get underway June 20th in London.
Some information for this report provided by AP.
