Portable Planet

Australian Open tennis champion Serena Williams of the United States has easily defeated top-seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia to advance to the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida.

The 13th-seeded Williams overpowered Sharapova 6-1, 6-1 on Tuesday, in a rematch of their Australian Open final earlier this year. Williams next faces number-eight Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic for a berth in the last eight.

Meanwhile, ninth-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze advanced to the semifinals, battling from behind to beat No. 15 Li Na of China, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

In men’s play, 12th-seeded Andy Murray of Britain fought off two match points and rallied for a 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu. In the quarterfinals he will play the winner of the match between third-seeded American Andy Roddick and Spain’s David Ferrer.

Source: VOA