STUTTGART, Germany -- Defending champion Maria Sharapova defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday to set up a Porsche Grand Prix quarterfinal with top seed Agnieszka Radwanska.
The sixth-seeded Sharapova needed a little over an hour and a half to defeat her fellow Russian, keeping alive her dream of winning the tournament for the third year in a row.
Polish world No. 3 Radwanska was rarely troubled in wrapping up a 6-3, 6-2 win over Italy's Roberta Vinci.
Carla Suarez Navarro upset the fourth-seeded Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-4 to knock the last remaining German out of the tournament. The world No. 16 next faces Estonia's Kaia Kanepi.
Fifth seed Jelena Jankovic rallied after losing the first set to beat Flavia Pennetta of Italy 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 for a quarterfinal against Alisa Kleybanova, who upset the third-seeded Petra Kvitova on Wednesday.
Former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic also lost her first set against German wild card Julia Goerges, but recovered to prevail 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia was scheduled to take on second seed Simona Halep of Romania, also late, with the winner facing Ivanovic in the quarterfinals.