Maria is through to the quarters of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati after she defeated No.14 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.  Maria won 6-2 6-3 in 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Maria broke Kuznetsova to lead 3-2 in the first set and won five straight games to take the first set and lead 2-0 with a break in the second set.  Maria takes a 5-2 lead in the set, Kuznetsova breaks Maria but Maria takes the one game she needs to advance to the qaurters.

In the quarters to be played on Friday, Maria will play No.10 seed Samantha Stosur of Australia.  Maria has played Stosur eight times before and leads the series 8-0.  Maria has four wins on hardcourts and the last meeting was in Rome earlier this year in the final and Maria won 6-2 6-4.

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