Tennis: Sharapova advances

Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus advanced to the quarter-finals of the Bank of the West Classic yesterday.

Israel's Shahar Peer, another seeded player, wasn't as fortunate.

Former world No 1 Sharapova, the fifth seed, beat Belarus' Olga Govortsova, 6-3, 6-3 and the eighth-seeded Azarenka topped American Melanie Oudin, 6-3, 6-1 in the second round, while Russia's Maria Kirilenko knocked off the sixth-seeded Peer, 6-4, 6-3.