Sharapova and Ljubicic through to quarters

Fourth seed Maria Sharapova and seventh seed Ivan Ljubicic are through to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open after winning their respective matches in straight sets at Rod Laver Arena tonight.

Sharapova eliminated 17th seed Daniela Hantuchova in a gritty 6-4 6-4 win to book a spot in the final eight, while Ljubicic ended tenth seed Thomas Johansson title hopes 6-2 6-4 6-4.

The young Russian ensured Hantuchova didn’t continue her giant killing efforts in the tournament after the spirited Slovakian defeated defending champion Serena Williams earlier in the week.

Sharapova, who nearly missed the tournament through injury, didn’t completely control the match, but managed to secure the first set with her third break of serve despite allowing Hantuchova to break serve twice.

The Slovakian then failed to capitalise on an early break of serve and 3-0 lead in the second set as Sharapova broke serve in the fifth game before Hantuchova opted to leave the court for an injury time-out due to an upper thigh problem.

Sharapova sealed the match soon after Hantuchova returned with another break of serve, completing the fourth round contest in one hour and 37 minutes.

The 18-year-old, who made the semi-finals at last years tournament, will now face sixth seed compatriot Nadia Petrova, who defeated Sharapova last time they met at the 2005 Tour Championships.

“It will be very tough,” Sharapova told Channel Seven.

“She hits a very flat ball and is a big server.”

Ljubicic progressed through to his first quarter-final appearance in 25 grand slam tournaments with a convincing win over disappointed Swede Johansson.

Ljubicic wrapped up the match in just under two hours and will now face rising Cypriot star Marcos Baghdatis, who defeated second seed Andy Roddick earlier today, for a spot in the semi-finals.

Johansson, who won the tournament in 2002, became unsettled as Ljubicic managed to master the Swede’s serving game, winning 45% of receiving points, compared to 27%.

The Croatian converted four out of seven break points, while Johansson couldn’t make the most of his one break opportunity, which caused great frustration for the former champion.

Johansson became increasingly aggravated as he struggled for every point, while Ljubicic used his power and agility to breeze through the fourth round contest in front of a packed Rod Laver Arena.

Tomorrow at Melbourne Park sees a much more comfortable temperature of 26 degrees Celsius and the completion of the fourth round with highlights including Australian Samantha Stosur’s match against Martina Hingis, top seed Roger Federer versus Tommy Haas and 12th seed Dominik Hrbaty taking on fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko.

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Roddick out as top seeds progress (Sun Jan 22)

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