Maria Sharapova Nurses Her Shoulder Into Quarter-finals

Maria Sharapova did not seek to inspire confidence that the damaged shoulder which threatened her career is now in better health, even though she needed less than 70 minutes for two wins while reaching the quarter-finals of the Aegon Classic at Edgbaston today.

Was it OK now? "I hope so. We will see. I play the best I can and just try to get the job done," was all she would allow herself, after finishing off Alexa Glatch, the 19-year-old who helped the US regain the Fed Cup, 6-3, 6-4 and then beating Francesca Schiavone, the former top-20 Italian, 6-1, 6-3.

Sharapova is hitting the ball off the ground pretty well. The serve is a less certain quantity because she has not yet used her altered action with a really big win hinging on the outcome, and her self-belief, after 10 months out, is still more of an unknown.

It is this which inhibits her optimism. "I don't know when I am going to be at the level I was before, or when I will be better," the former Wimbledon champion said. Nevertheless, it required only two minutes and five rallies to complete the encounter with Glatch, who restarted after a 24-hour rain delay while holding a point for 5-5 but was too determined to stop Sharapova attacking and twice over-hit. And it took little more than an hour to demolish Schiavone, a player good enough to have contributed to the retirement of Justine Henin last year.

The British near-miss story continued. After Naomi Broady's and Anne Keothavong's fluffed opportunities, it was Elena Baltacha who was at it this time.

"Bally" is so superstitiously desperate for a good run to help her into the top 100 that she will only receive balls from the ball-boy from the right side of the court, and if she is having a winning sequence she requires her coach Nini Severino to keep eating the same breakfast.

He has been saved from gastronomic boredom this time. Baltacha had a point to reach 5-3 in the final set against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, which would have left her to serve for the match, but instead went on to lose 6-7, 6-3, 7-6.

Pavluchenkova, still only 18, looks good enough to make the top 20 soon, so this was a good effort by Baltacha. But the longstanding British disease has yet to be eradicated.