AFP/Stanford, California
Second-seeded Maria Sharapova reached the quarter-finals of the $721,000 WTA hardcourt tournament here Wednesday, setting up a possible showdown with Serena Williams. Sharapova, ranked number five in the world, defeated Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to advance as she tries to build on the momentum of a runner-up finish at Wimbledon. She led a string of seeds into the quarter-finals as third-seeded Marion Bartoli, fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska and eighth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova all advanced. Sharapova fought her way through despite 11 double faults, finally advancing after 2 hours and 12 minutes. Sharapova admitted she “kind of lost it” in the second set. “I got away from what I was doing well and she had all the confidence and all the momentum going into the third set.” Hantuchova built a 2-0 lead in the third set before Sharapova won four games to wrap it up. “I was frustrated by the fact I wasn’t able to maintain what I was doing into the second set,” Sharapova said. “I was able to break her back and got the energy going again.”