Top seed Maria Sharapova edged out Vera Zvonareva 7-5, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals for the third time in her career.
The 19-year-old Russian clinched a tight opening set to take the initiative and despite recovering from 5-2 down in the second, the 22nd seed could not fend off Sharapova, who won in an hour and 46 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
Sharapova was grateful to come through in relatively quick time after a draining week of action at Melbourne Park and against an opponent who had beaten her twice in their five career meetings.
"It was very good to win in two sets today because I've had some tough matches against her. I came up with three really good shots to win it at the end there," she said in a courtside interview.
Sharapova, a semi-finalist the last two years here, plays her third fellow Russian of the tournament in the last eight when she faces 12th seed Anna Chakvetadze.
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