Maria loses in Quarter

American Venus Williams crushed Russia's Maria Sharapova 6-2 6-2, while her younger sister Serena was upset by Australia's Samantha Stosur in the quarter-finals of the Stanford Classic on Saturday.

Seven-time grand slam champion Venus had not beaten Sharapova in three previous matches on hard courts, but on Saturday she was the more aggressive and accurate in the hard-hitting rallies while destroying the Russian's second serves.

Sharapova only hit 11 winners and committed 30 forced errors.

"She's a tremendous athlete and was probably 10 steps faster to the ball than I was," said Sharapova, who was playing her fifth tournament since returning from shoulder surgery.

"I should have taken the opportunities I had. That's something that comes along with playing and right now, it's not on autopilot for me."

Venus will now face third seed Elena Dementieva of Russia who advanced with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova.

The next tournament that Maria will play is Los Angelos, which will begin next monday.