Sydney, Australia (My Sportsbook) - American Serena Williams and Russian Dinara Safina, the top-two seeds, cruised into 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 qualifier and fellow countrywoman Vera Dushevina 6-3, 6-0. Williams fired nine aces and needed just 51 minutes to advance.
Williams' quarterfinal opponent will be eighth seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, who routed British qualifier Melanie South 6-2, 6-0.
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.
In other second-round action on Day 3, third-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva defeated Slovakian wild card 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); 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.
The 2008 Sydney runner-up Kuznetsova will meet Sugiyama, while Dementieva will tangle with Radwanska in the quarters. The Olympic gold medalist Dementieva is fresh off her title in Auckland last week.
Retired Belgian great Justine Henin beat Kuznetsova in last year's finale here.
The 2009 Sydney champ will pocket $98,500.
