• Madrid Open

Serena continues Madrid streak with 650th career win

Serena Williams made light work of her third-round opponent Carla Suarez Navarro © Getty Images

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Serena Williams brushed aside Carla Suarez Navarro to earn her 650th career win and her 15th straight victory at the Madrid Open.

The double defending champion conceded just five games in a 6-2 6-3 win over Navarro, who could not carry over the success of winning her first career title in Portugal on Saturday to the Spanish capital.

Williams, in pursuit of her 60th title, hit 27 winners to her Spanish opponent's five, while securing seven break points in the sun.

And the world No.1 was full of praise for her opponent. "She played really well," Williams said. "She made me work for every point and it wasn't an easy win.

"I think that was her goal today, to put on a really good show and play really hard and show me what she's capable of. She's obviously capable of doing a lot on the court.

"She just won a title last week, so she's definitely not an easy player to play."

Maria Sharapova made light work of Samantha Stosur © Getty Images

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Williams will face 2011 champion Petra Kvitova in the quarter-finals after the fifth-seeded Czech beat countrywoman Lucie Safarova 6-4 6-3.

Maria Sharapova made light work of Sam Stosur to book her place in the last eight and set up a tie with Li Na. Sharapova advanced after 90 minutes on court and a 6-4 6-3 victory against the Australian.

Australian Open champion Na had earlier come from a set down to beat Sloane Stephens.

After a poor opening set, the second-ranked Li overcame a slew of unforced errors and a bothersome toe problem to win 2-6 6-3 6-2.

"After the first set I was like, 'Calm down'," said Li, who needed two hours to pull out the win.

"I say, 'Okay, I cannot only think about what happened for the game, you have to look forward otherwise you cannot make it.'"

Ana Ivanovic raced through her third round tie with a 6-1 6-2 victory against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and will face Simone Halep for a place in the last four. The fourth seed had to come from a set down to beat Sabine Lisicki 5-7 6-3 6-2.

Third seed Agnieszka Radwanska needed just 57 minutes to see off Italian Roberta Vinci on Court 5. She will face Caroline Garcia after the French qualifier ousted 10th seed Sara Errani 6-2 4-6 6-3 to book a spot in the last eight.

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