Returning Russian superstar Maria Sharapova stormed into Warsaw Open quarterfinals after easily dispatching lucky loser Darya Kustova of Belarus in two sets 6-2, 6-0. The Belarussian was a late replacement for tournament top-seed Caroline Wozniacki who had to pull out due to back injury.
Sharapova, who’s been on singles hiatus for the past ten months due to shoulder injury, showed some rust during her two-and-a-half hour first round match against Italian Tathiana Garbin. This time, everything’s working well for her, winning the match in less than an hour.
Next up for the Russian is Ukranian player and tournament eighth seed Alona Bondarenko who eased past Poland’s Marta Domachowska 6-3, 6-1.
Other players progressing to the quarterfinals are Anne Keothavong of Great Britain, Romanian qualifier Alexandra Dulgheru and Czech Klara Zakopalova who upset Jie Zheng of China 6-0, 6-4.
