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Two days after outlasting Ai Sugiyama in a three-set thriller that ended in just under two and a half hours, Maria Sharapova wasted little time in advancing to the quarterfinals of the 2009 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.

Sharapova cruised past Nadia Petrova 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday afternoon at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium, easily defeating the fellow Russian in a match that took just 61minutes to complete. Perhaps most impressive about her display was the quality of her serve, not dropping a single point on her first serve in the opening set.

Next up for Sharapova is a Friday contest against the winner of Thursday's match between Venus Williams and qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva.

Speaking after her match Sharapova said, "Against an opponent like her, I have to go out there and expect her to play really good tennis. She has a really big game, she's very explosive and she goes for shots a lot. It's important to take care of your service game, and try to get some looks on the second serve. I thought I did many things well today. I was aggressive the whole way through and not too many letdowns."

Looking ahead to a possible showdown with Venus, Sharapova remarked, "I'm excited. I love to play against her and it's been awhile. It's always great to be coming back and have the chance to play against a player like her who is at the top of her game right now and is playing really well. And I'm definitely looking forward to it.

You have to go in to the match thinking she is going to do everything well, which she is very capable of doing. That is why she is a champion and that why she has that many more Grand Slams than I do. Going into a match against her I know I have to perform well, I have to start well, be aggressive, not have any letdowns against her and just worry about my side of the net. You've got to expect her to play great tennis."

Only one of the two seeded players appearing in this evenings matches advanced to the Quarterfinals. No. 3 seed Elena Dementieva, registered a straight-set win during the night session. Dementieva defeated fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 6-2 while Hantuchova notched a win over Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, the No. 7 seed. Dementieva and Hantuchova will square off against each other in Friday's quarterfinals.

After upsetting No. 8 seed Dominika Cibulkova in the opening round, Samantha Stosur picked up another win to earn herself a spot in Friday's quarterfinals. Stosur downed Monica Niculescu 6-1, 7-5 and now plays the winner of tomorrow's contest between Serena Williams and Melinda Czink.

Four doubles matches took place on Wednesday, including a quarterfinal victory from Serena Williams and Venus Williams. Seeded No. 2 in the draw, the Williams sisters wasted little time in dominating the duo of Liga Dekmeijere and Julie Ditty by a 6-1, 6-0 count.

Meanwhile, the No. 1 team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber looked very sharp in a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Angela Haynes and Olga Savchuk.

Top seed Serena Williams and No. 2 seed Venus Williams will both play their second round matches during Thursday's day session at the 2009 Bank of the West Classic at Stanford University. Serena will take the court against Melinda Czink followed by Venus taking on Alla Kudryavtseva. The tournament's No. 4 seed Jelena Jankovic plays Sabine Lisicki in the night session.

Select Results:

Samantha Stosur (AUS) def. Monica Niculescu (ROU) 6-1, 7-5
Maria Sharapova (RUS) def. Nadia Petrova (RUS) 6-1, 6-2
Elena Dementieva (RUS) def. Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 6-1, 6-2
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) def. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-1

Cara Black (ZIM)/Liezel Huber (USA) def. Angela Haynes (USA)/Olga Savchuk (UKR) 6-1, 6-3
Serena Williams (USA)/Venus Williams (USA) def. Liga Dekmeijere (LAT)/Julie Ditty (USA) 6-1, 6-0

File Photograph Copyright: Constatini (Italian Open)

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