Sharapova, Serena to butt heads in quarterfinals

BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams will butt heads Friday in the quarterfinals of the Family Circle Cup after the American tennis star played her way through a sprained ankle to defeat Katarina Srebotnik 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday.

"I just kept making errors and it wasn't pretty out there," the fifth-seeded Williams said after her more than two-hour match. "It wasn't the best tennis for me."

The second-seeded Sharapova beat Tatiana Perebiynis 7-5, 6-2. The Russian star, coming off her first clay-court title last week at Amelia Island, is looking for her fourth tournament victory of the year.

Sharapova and Williams have met six times before, with Williams holding a 4-2 advantage. But the two have never met on clay.

"We've always had really tough battles," Sharapova said, who lost twice to Williams last year at the Australian Open and at Miami. "I'm looking forward to getting my revenge."

In other matches, Jelena Jankovic, the defending champion and top seed at the 1.3 million U.S. dollar Family Circle, had an easier time, defeating unseeded Anastasia Rodionova 6-0, 6-2 in less than an hour.

In the quarterfinals, Jankovic will face ninth-seeded Vera Zvonareva, a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 winner over sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli. Tenth-seeded Agnes Szavay beat eighth-seeded Dinara Safina 6-2, 7-5, and will face Alize Cornet in the quarterfinals. Cornet beat Sorana Cirstea 6-1, 7-5.

Fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva also advanced, beating 13th-seeded Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 7-5. Dementieva will face No. 7 Patty Schnyder who eliminated No. 11 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-2.

(Agencies)