Grand slam winners go out as Sharapova advances

Maria Sharapova

MASON, Ohio, (Reuters) – Grand slam title holders Li  Na and Petra Kvitova were knocked out of the Cincinnati Open yesterday while Russia’s Maria Sharapova and Vera Zvonareva  moved into the quarter-finals.Australia’s Samantha Stosur defeated French Open winner Li  for the second successive week with a 6-4 3-6 6-4 win to set up  a last eight showdown with Sharapova.  

Stosur is hitting some good form in the run up to the U.S.  Open, where she reached the quarter-finals last year.  

The 10th seeded Australian was runner-up in Toronto last  week and with the field wide open in Cincinnati has a real  chance at her third career WTA title. “It would be the biggest title I’ve ever won,” Stosur told  reporters. “It would be fantastic but there is still a fair way  to go before that can happen.