Mason, OH – Former world No. 1 and 2010 runner-up Maria Sharapova was an easy quarterfinal winner Friday at the $2.05 million Western & Southern Open, a U.S. Open Series event.
The fourth-seeded Sharapova pasted last week's Toronto runner-up Samantha Stosur 6-3, 6-2 in 72 minutes on the hardcourts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. The 10th-seeded 2010 French Open runner-up Stosur lost to Serena Williams in this past Sunday's title tilt at Canada's Rogers Cup event.
The three-time major champion Sharapova was last year's Cincy runner-up to U.S. Open champ Kim Clijsters and this year's Wimbledon runner-up to Czech Petra Kvitova.
The 2011 Cincinnati champion will collect $360,000.
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