STUTTGART — Maria Sharapova advanced to the quarterfinals of the Porsche Grand Prix by beating Ekaterina Makarova 7-5, 6-1 Thursday.
In her second match after a 15-month doping ban, Sharapova hit nine aces and held serve throughout. She converted three of her four break points.
"Being in the quarterfinals here again is quite special," said Sharapova, who won the indoor clay event three times from 2012-14.
Less than 24 hours after beating Roberta Vinci in straight sets in her highly anticipated first match, Sharapova said she "felt I settled down a little bit. I was able to focus on the game. I executed a great plan today and I thought I was solid."
The five-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1, who lost her ranking due to the suspension and entered the event on a wild card, will play 73rd-ranked Anett Kontaveit of Estonia for a place in the semifinals.
Also, Anastasija Sevastova beat sixth-seeded Johanna Konta 6-3, 7-5 to set up a quarterfinal against Simona Halep.
Laura Siegemund, a finalist last year, defeated 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-3, and Carla Suarez-Navarro beat another Russian, Elena Vesnina, 6-2, 6-4.
Sharapova says she would ‘play in the juniors if I have to’ in order to compete at the French Open and Wimbledon, but has no interest in building bridges with her rivals after making her comeback from a doping ban.
“I’d be prepared to play in the juniors if I have to,” she replied when asked about her desire to play the French Open or Wimbledon.
“Everyone in this room knows what a competitor I am and if there is an opportunity to be in the draw, I will take it.
“I have been offered wild cards and I am accepting them. I am not getting a trophy or a golden platter, I have to win these games and that is my job.”
“I can’t control what people say, all I can is what I do out there, they are my words and I prefer to walk the walk and I have done it by winning five Grand Slam titles,” she told a packed press conference.
Nadal reaches quarters
Defending champion Rafael Nadal defeated Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open Thursday.
Nadal converted a break point in each set to secure his seventh straight clay-court victory.
Nadal, a nine-time champion in Barcelona, will next face qualifier Hyeon Chung of South Korea or eighth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany.
The fifth-ranked Nadal is coming off his 10th title at the Monte Carlo Masters.
In other third-round matches, fourth-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria defeated Daniel Evans of Britain 7-6 (5), 6-2 to set up a quarterfinal against lucky loser Yuichi Sugita of Japan, who beat seventh-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-3, 6-3.
Top-seeded Andy Murray plays Spain's Feliciano Lopez in a third-round match later Thursday. — Agencies
