Maria is through to the quarters at the Qatar TOTAL Open in Doha after she defeated Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic. Maria won 6-3 6-3 in an hour and 27 minutes.

After a long first service game which Maria held with a backhand down-the-line winner, Maria broke in the next game and held her serve in her second service game to lead 3-0. Zakopalova won the next two games to get the set back on serve but Maria won three of the next four games to take the set 6-3.

In the second set, Maria took a 4-1 lead and Zakopalova won the next two games but Maria re-took control of the set as she won the next two games and won matchpoint when Zakopalova hit a forehand long.

In the Friday's quarter-final, Maria will play No.8 seed Samantha Stosur of Australia. The match will begin at 3.30 PM local time (1.30 PM CET, 7.30 AM ET and 4.30 AM PT). Maria has played Stosur thirteen times before and leads the series 11-2. Here are the matches they have played against each other:
2004 Birmingham R3: Maria won 6-4 6-3
2004 Seoul QF: Maria won 6-2 6-1
2004 Tokyo R3: Maria won 6-4 1-6 6-3
2005 Birmingham R3: Maria won 6-4 3-6 6-1
2006 Tokyo QF: Maria won 6-1 6-4
2009 Tokyo R3: Maria won 6-0 6-1
2011 Miami R4: Maria won 6-4 6-1 
2011 Rome Final: Maria won 6-2 6-4 
2011 Cincinnati QF: Maria won 6-3 6-2
2011 WTA Championships Round Robin: Stosur won 6-1 7-5
2012 Stuttgart QF: Maria won 6-7 7-6 7-5
2012 Tokyo QF: Stosur won 6-4 7-6
2012 WTA Championships Round Robin: Maria won 6-0 6-3