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Sharapova remains on treble course
 Sharapova has won the Birmingham grasscourt event for the last two years. BIRMINGHAM, England -- Maria Sharapova swept China's Li Na aside in straight sets to keep her bid for a third straight victory at the DFS Classic in Birmingham firmly on track. The Russian cruised into the quarterfinals with a 6-2 6-4 win and will now face 12th seed Mara Santangelo, who accounted for fifth seed Ai Sugiyami. Unseeded Jamea Jackson had earlier caused the shock of the tournament, enduring an epic, rollercoaster encounter before defeating last year's beaten finalist Jelena Jankovic 6-4 0-6 7-5. Second seed Francesca Schiavone was forced to come from a set down against unseeded Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova before clinching her place in the last eight. The world number 14 from Italy looked in trouble after losing the first set 3-6 and having break points against her in the fourth game of the second, only to survive and rally by taking the last two sets 6-3, 6-1. Sugiyami, a Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 2004, lost 7-6 6-4 to Santangelo, while Anna Chakvetadze, the seventh seed, lost to compatriot Vera Zvonareva 6-4 6-3. Number six seed Marion Bartoli endured a two-hour-and-12-minute marathon in her third-round match before finally overcoming Ayumi Morita of Japan 6-4 5-7 6-2. Bartoli, a former US Open junior champion who captured her first WTA Tour title in Auckland in January, needed three match points in a final game that mirrored an ebb-and-flow tie before beating 16-year-old Morita. 
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