Maria storms into quarters

Maria Sharapova stormed into the quarter-finals of the WTA Qatar Open with a comprehensive victory over Argentina's Gisela Dulko here on Wednesday.

The reigning Wimbledon champion was just too strong for her rival as she coasted to a 6-1 6-1 win to join Australia's Alicia Molik and Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in the last eight. "It was a good match to get through," said Maria Sharapova. "It's never easy to make a comeback after an illness-enforced break, but I took my opportunities," she added. The second seeded Maria Sharapova said she still felt a bit tired from the after effects of the flu that forced her to skip the Paris Indoor Open earlier this month.
"I am still not a hundred percent but I was happy to dictate the match today and get used to the conditions here in a proper match setting," said Maria.