Amelie Mauresmo continued her preparations for this month's Australian Open with a 6-3 6-4 win over fellow Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy to reach the last eight of the Australian Hardcourt Championships on Wednesday.

The former world number one, playing in her first tournament since October after suffering a shoulder injury, was too strong for Dechy throughout as the sixth seed set up a quarter-final clash with Patty Schnyder of Switzerland.

Fourth seed Schnyder, the champion in 1999 and 2005, recovered from a slow start to beat Italian Francesca Schiavone 2-6 6-3 6-4.

Top seed Nicole Vaidisova continued her bid for a first WTA Tour title in 18 months with a 6-4 6-2 win over Tatjana Malek of Germany.

Czech Vaidisova will now play China's Li Na after she ended the run of Australian wildcard Monique Adamczak 6-3 6-2.

Defending champion Dinara Safina of Russia battled into the last eight with a 6-4 2-6 6-4 victory over another Italian, Flavia Pennetta.

Safina will now play fifth seed Shahar Peer of Israel, who advanced when German Julia Schruff withdrew because of upper respiratory illness, having lost the first set 6-0.