Top seed Maria Sharapova progressed smoothly into the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters with a 7-6, 6-4 win over Mary Pierce on Thursday.
In the other half of the draw, defending champion Amelie Mauresmo did just enough to edge out Italy's Silvia Farina Elia 6-4, 6-3 to set up a clash with four-times former Rome winner Conchita Martinez.
Pierce presented a tough prospect for Sharapova, whose game has rarely sparkled on clay.
The Russian had never gone beyond the last eight in her previous six tournaments on the surface and was facing a claycourt expert who won the Rome title in 1997 and the 2000 French Open.
Sharapova started aggressively, firing groundstrokes deep into the Frenchwoman's court in an attempt to close out each point as quickly as possible.
Pierce fended off six break points before a long backhand put the Russian 4-2 up in the sixth game.
CLOSED OUT
Pierce conjured up a winning serve return and a drive volley to prevent Sharapova serving out for the set at 5-3, but a pair of netted groundstrokes gave the Russian a double mini-break she needed to close out the tiebreak.
Sharapova again came out on top of a see-saw opening to the second set, which included five consecutive breaks of serve. She finished off by lashing a winner down the line.
"She (Pierce) is always a dangerous opponent. She's got a big serve and good groundstrokes and she knows how to play on this surface," Sharapova said.
"But this year I've got a lot more confidence. I'm a completely different player."
The early exits of her highly-ranked compatriots Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova have left the draw wide open for Sharapova, who will wrestle the world number one ranking from Lindsay Davenport if she triumphs in Rome this week.
"That would be an amazing feeling, but I'm just taking it one match at a time," said the second seed.
"This is only my second claycourt tournament of the year and I'm trying not to think too much about the expectations."
She next faces ninth seed Elena Bovina, who battled past Argentina's Paola Suarez 3-6, 6-3, 7-6.
Mauresmo's match against Farina Elia was an eagerly awaited of their quarter-final last year, which the Frenchwoman won in three sets after saving two match points.
JUST ENOUGH
In the end it failed to live up to expectations, with the second seed doing just enough to remain on course for her fifth Rome final in six years.
"I don't think either of us played such great tennis today. She was pretty tight and I just think on the important points in the important games I was a little bit better," said Mauresmo.
"But these matches, you know, you have to win. You can't always be 100 per cent on court. It's when you have these not-so-good moments that you have to go through.
"That's what I did, focusing on the important points."
Asked whether she felt capable of lifting her game and repeating last year's triumph, Mauresmo replied: "Sometimes even when you play an average match, one or two matches after you can play your best tennis.
"Last year, when I played against Silvia, I remember there were also ups and downs in that match.
"Then the next day in the semis I came up very strong against (Vera) Zvonareva, then strong again (in the final) against (Jennifer) Capriati."
Mauresmo could meet Zvonareva in the last four again this year.
The Russian, seeded sixth, beat Colombian qualifier Catalina Castano 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 to set up a quarter-final against Italy's Francesca Schiavone, who followed up her second-round victory over Serena Williams with a 6-3, 7-5 victory against 16th seed Ai Sugiyama.
