Defending champion Jelena Jankovic cruised past Maria Kirilenko and now faces Venus Williams at the Italian Open third round.
Serb claims easy win despite battling a cold, Williams sisters both through.
Defending champion Jelena Jankovic cruised past Maria Kirilenko and now faces Venus Williams at the Italian Open third round.
New world number one Maria Sharapova also progressed as did both Serena and venus Williams - the latter of who will face Jankovic.
Jankovic won 6-1 6-1 against Kirilenko, ranked 26th in the world, to reach the quarter-finals of the high-profile Rome event.
Kirilenko appeared to run out of energy against the Serb after winning two three-set matches on Wednesday.
"I didn't expect such an easy match. She's a very good player," Jankovic said.
"I just went out with the plan to play aggressively and really go for my shots, and that's what I did."
Jankovic herself is struggling with a cold and took an assortment of medications at the changeovers.
"The doctors gave me a lot of things to take, and that's what I have to do to play," she said.
Jankovic won the French Open warm-up event last year without dropping a set.
Number one
Sharapova will be the world number one after Justine Henin announced her retirement, and she celebrated by booking her place in the last eight in Rome.
The Russian second seed was forced to work hard though before beating Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 7-6 (7/3).
After taking the opening set, Sharapova found herself 5-1 down in the second after two breaks of serve, but managed to gather herself to reel off five games on the bounce.
Sharapova did fluff her lines when serving for the match, but settled down in the tie-breaker to see-out the win.
"Taking away what she was doing on her side of the net, from my point of view I thought there were just a lot of rollercoaster rides," said Sharapova.
"I'd put two or three good points together and then the level sort of dropped, but that's all right.
"The good thing is I got a win and can play another match tomorrow."
Next up for Sharapova is Swiss number nine seed Patty Schnyder, who edged a marathon contest against Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli 6-4 4-6 7-6 (9/7).
Sister act
Serena Williams powered past home favourite Sara Errani with a 6-4 6-3 success for the American setting-up a quarter-final with Alize Cornet.
The 18-year-old from France stunned last year's runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 6-4 to earn another big showdown with Williams.
Williams was in dominant form and is looking for a second title in Rome as she builds up to the French Open later this month.
"I'm definitely feeling much fitter than last year or the year before," she said.
"It's a good feeling, I've had enough match play and I'm feeling good."
Williams' sister Venus will be taking on Jankovic after getting the better of Russian Vera Zvonareva 7-5 6-2.
