Sharapova eases into quarters

Wimbledon - Maria Sharapova downed China's Peng Shuai 6-4, 6-2 in the Wimbledon fourth round on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2006.

The first set was a closely-fought affair with little between the Russian fifth seed and the Chinese No 2, but Sharapova was able to impose herself much more in the second set against the 20th seed.

Sharapova was being cheered on by her fiance Sasha Vujacic, the Slovenian basketball player with the New Jersey Nets.

"It's great," Sharapova said after wrapping up victory in an hour and 21 minutes.

"I'm giving myself an opportunity to go even further so I'm quite happy about that.

"I have to be realistic about the fact that I hadn't gotten past the fourth round in a few years so this a step forward and it's just about taking care of business in the next round."

She will face either Danish world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki or Slovakia's 24th seed Dominika Cibulkova on Tuesday for a place in the semi-finals.

Peng, who was the only remaining Chinese in the singles following French Open winner Li Na's shock second round defeat, is on a career-high world ranking of 20 and is the highest-ranked player without a singles title to her name.

The 20th seed had equalled her best-ever Grand Slam performance, having made the fourth round at this year's Australian Open.