Sharapova powers into Tianjin quarter-finals

Maria Sharapova reached her second WTA Tour quarter-final since her doping ban at the Tianjin Open.

The Russian made a fine start to her comeback in Stuttgart in April by making the semi-finals but had fallen short of the last eight at each event since.

However, she has been in decent form this week and was a 7-5 6-3 winner against Magda Linette in the second round.

Sharapova will next face Swiss qualifier Stefanie Voegele, who defeated fifth seed Yulia Putintseva 6-2 6-3.

Italian qualifier Sara Errani continued her winning run on her comeback from a doping ban, beating Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-4 4-6 6-3.

Third seed and defending champion Peng Shuai eased into the last eight with a 6-2 6-2 win over Wang Xiyu while Christina McHale upset sixth seed Maria Sakkari 6-0 6-4.

None of the top five seeds at the Hong Kong Open have reached the quarter-finals, with Elina Svitolina and Caroline Wozniacki both withdrawing through injury yesterday.

Top seed Svitolina is suffering from a leg injury and gave Nicole Gibbs a walkover while defending champion Wozniacki, who had been due to play Lizette Cabrera, cited an elbow problem for her withdrawal.

Two singles matches were played – Jennifer Brady upset eighth seed Zhang Shuai 6-3 6-4 while Wang Qiang defeated Luksika Kumkhum 6-4 6-4.