Maria Sharapova is through to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the first time since 2011 after beating Kazakhstan's Zarina Diyas 6-4, 6-4.
The No.4 seed will face unheralded American CoCo Vandeweghe on Tuesday as she continues her bid for a second Wimbledon title.
It is 11 years since the darling of tennis lifted the Venus Rosewater dish at the tender age of 17 and, on the second Monday, Sharapova looked in the form to repeat that fairytale.
Asked whether she felt in shape to become the 2015 champion, Sharapova said: “Yeah. I think I've worked through a few different opponents, different conditions, as well, a few different courts. I put myself in different situations, yet been able to close out the matches in two sets. That's a positive in these last eight days.”
The Russian, who last reached the final here in 2011 when she lost to Petra Kvitova, was made to work by Diyas but eventually prevailed in one hour and 37 minutes.
I put myself in different situations, yet been able to close out the matches in two sets
The women had met only once before, on the Plexicushion of Melbourne in 2014. On that occasion Sharapova dropped only two games but this time she faced a far trickier proposition as the No.1 Court lawn suited Diya’s flat strokes.
“She changes direction quite well,” Sharapova said. “I thought, especially in the second set, she started being more aggressive. When she finds those lines on the serve, it's tough to get back.”
Sharapova initially struggled with her serve – by the end of the match she had notched up seven double-faults – and conceded that the "swirly conditions" did little to help her ball toss. However, she did dispense six aces.
“I started with a few errors early on,” she said. “But I thought, as the match went on, I got a good rhythm. Had a few more aces than I usually do today.”
Vandeweghe upset the No.6 seed Lucie Safarova, 7‑6(1), 7‑6(4), to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time. However, the American insisted she did not produce her best tennis.
“I didn't really feel that good,” she declared. “I thought it was one of my worst matches that I played the whole tournament so far. Serve was kind of in and out. It was there when I needed it, especially towards the end, but it was more my court positioning early on. I thought I was too far back, letting her dictate instead of making her feel my presence.”
However, the 23-year-old added that she kept "calm and cool". “I think that helped. When the tougher, longer rallies happened, I was on the winning end of it more times than I wasn't. I think that was kind of the difference in the match.”
