The Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova has continued her successful return to the WTA circuit with a confident 6-2 6-love victory over Darya Kustova of Belarus to reach the quarter-finals of the Warsaw Open.
The former world No.1 is playing her first singles tournament in over nine months after taking time off to recover from a persistent shoulder injury.
Despite the doubts over her fitness, the 22-year-old showed glimpses of her glory days when she won three grand slams, including Wimbledon as a 17-year-old.
The Russian pin-up was more consistent than in her three-set first round win over Italy's Tathiana Garbin.
She now plays Ukrainian eighth seed Alona Bondarenko for a place in the semi-finals.
