BEIJING (AFP) - Wimbledon rivals Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova reached the quarter-finals of the 585,000-dollar China Open, with top seed Williams scraping past a tough challenge from a teenage Russian.
Williams, the six-time Grand Slam winner, managed a successful debut in China as she overcame Dinara Safina, sister of last week's men's Beijing champion Marat Safin, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Sharapova, 17, who crushed Williams in July for the Wimbledon crown, showed off several days of on-site training and handled conditions flawlessly to defeat compatriot Tatiana Panova 6-1, 6-1.
The third-seeded Russian, who reached the quarter-finals at the event last year when it was played in Shanghai, started sharply with a pair of love games on the way into a 20-minute first set.
That kind of impressive form was duplicated in the second set against Panova, the world number 94 who was born 11 years before her opponent.
Victory boosts the Florida-based world number nine from Siberia to 36-12 this season, with titles at Birmingham and Wimbledon.
Conditions were perfect at the Beijing tennis centre, site for the 2008 Olympic Games. "The fast court suited my game better," said Sharapova. "I just played my game today."
The win was the second in 2004 for Sharapova over her countrywoman. She took a victory seven months ago in Memphis when Panova retired injured in the first set.
Williams rallied to wrap up victory against Safina, ranked 60th and standing 18-17 on the season.
The American is keen for a second title this season after only winning in Miami, her first event upon a return in March from eight months away with knee surgery.
Williams last played in the US Open quarter-finals, taking a controversial loss to Jennifer Capriati in a match riddled with line-call problems.
Williams has now reached the quarters in eight of nine events during an admittedly sparse year of play.
The holder of 24 titles will await an opponent from a Thursday match between fifth seed Nadia Petrova and Croatian qualifier Sandra Mamic.
Argentine sixth seed Gisela Dulko also reached the last eight when she defeated Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela 6-4, 6-4. Seventh seed Jelena Jankovic and Petrova both closed out first-round matches with victories.
Russia's US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who backed up that honour by winning in Bali on Sunday, opens in the second round after a bye on Thursday against China's qualifier Na Li.