Sydney, Australia (My Sportsbook) - American Serena Williams and Russian Dinara Safina, the top two seeds, cruised to the quarterfinals with straight- set victories Tuesday at the $600,000 Medibank International, a final Australian Open tune-up.
Williams blitzed Italian Sara Errani, 6-1, 6-2, while Safina took out fellow countrywoman Vera Dushevina, 6-3, 6-0. Williams needed just 51 minutes to win her match and fired nine aces.
Next up for Safina on the hardcourts at Sydney International Tennis Centre will be France's Alize Cornet, a 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 victor over Russian Alisa Kleybanova.
Williams' quarterfinal opponent will be eighth seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. She routed British qualifier Melanie South, 6-2, 6-0.
In other second-round action Tuesday, third-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva defeated Slovakian wildcard Jarmila Gajdosova, 6-2, 6-4, fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, also of Russia, got past Estonia's Kaia Kanepi, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3) and sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland topped Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova, 6-3, 7-5, and Japan's Ai Sugiyama downed Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Kuznetsova will meet Sugiyama, while Dementieva tangles with Radwanska in the quarterfinals.
Retired Belgian great Justine Henin beat Kuznetsova in last year's finale here.
The 2009 Sydney champ will pocket $98,500.
