Sharapova eases into quarter-finals

Defending champion Maria Sharapova defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-3 to set up a Porsche Grand Prix quarter-final clash with top-seed Agnieszka Radwanska.

The sixth-seeded Sharapova needed little over an hour-and-a-half to defeat her fellow Russian, keeping alive her bid to win the tournament for the third year in a row.

Polish world number three Radwanska was rarely troubled in wrapping up her 6-3, 6-2 win over Italy’s Roberta Vinci in one hour 19 minutes.

In the other matches, ninth-seed Ana Ivanovic beat Germany’s Julia Goerges 1-6, 6-2, 6-3, while Jelena Jankovic beat Flavia Pennetta 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.