Ana Ivanovic

Ana Ivanovic, on not receiving a wild card into Montreal: "Montreal was the first big tournament that I won and it was a special place for me.

"I do feel a little hurt and disappointed by their decision and it’s hard, but I have to prove otherwise and play well.

Maria Sharapova had very few problems at the Bank of the West Classic on Thursday, racing past Olga Govortsova, 63 63.

Sharapova, the No.5 seed, was playing Govortsova for the first time and despite double faulting in the first point of the match and subsequently losing her serve, she got her mojo back right away, needing just an hour and 19 minutes to make it past the Belarusian in straight sets and into the quarterfinals.

Marion Bartoli is a rarity on the WTA Tour.

One of a half-dozen players in the top 100 to use a two-handed swing from both sides, Bartoli plays an entertaining and efficient style, a mix of power, power and more power.

It was too much for Ana Ivanovic on Thursday night, as the fourth-seeded Bartoli took down Ivanovic 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the Bank of the West Classic quarterfinals.

A finalist in 2008, and champion last year, Bartoli's big game is well-suited for the fast courts at Stanford's Taube Family Tennis Stadium.

The reigning champion of the Stanford WTA tournament, France’s Marion Bartoli, is the second obstacle Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic faces at the California-based women’s tennis event. Ana arrived at the tournament as the 63rd player in the rankings, is brimming with confidence after her first-round win over Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova. She has managed to beat Bartoli on all occasions so far when the two met and Ivanovic she can maintain the impeccable record against the French.

The fans treated Ana Ivanovic as though she were still carrying the world's top ranking, cheering her each time she returned to the court from crossovers and loudly urging her to find her 2008 mojo.

Now ranked No. 63, Ivanovic rewarded the spectators with glimpses of her old self, beating No. 26 Alisa Kleybanova 6-3, 6-2 in their first-round match of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford's Taube Family Tennis Center.

Red-hot Agnieszka Radwanska beat South Africa's Chanelle Scheepers 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in the first round of the 700,000 dollar WTA Bank of the West Classic.

The third seeded Radwanska, of Poland, registered both of her aces in the third set and won both of her break points.

Radwanska has won four of her last five matches after winning four of her previous 10.

She advanced to the semis at Indian Wells and Dubai and the fourth round at Wimbledon,

Dinara Safina's woes continued as she lost again to veteran Kimiko Date Krumm at the Bank of the West Classic.

The former world number one, now down at 35 in the rankings and a wild card in the Stanford tournament, served for the match in the second set before crashing to lose 4-6 7-6 (7/0) 6-2 to the 39-year-old Japanese.

Date Krumm had also beaten Safina in the first round of the French Open.

The Russian has now lost her last six matches on ther WTA Tour.