Sharapova in brutal form with Petrova pummelling

(Reuters)

Maria Sharapova destroyed the fifth seed Nadia Petrova 6-1, 6-2 to move into the quarter-finals of the Stanford Classic.

Sharapova, who came back from shoulder surgery in May after 10 months off the tour, overwhelmed her fellow Russian with precise serving, huge returns and sharp groundstrokes in a stunning return to form late on Wednesday.

After shaking off the rust with a three-set defeat of Japan's Ai Sugiyama in Monday's first round, the three-times Grand Slam winner was never threatened by Petrova, who stretched her to three sets at the French Open second round in May.