MOSCOW, October 12. /TASS/. Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova entered the quarterfinals round of the 2017 Tianjin Open tournament in China following her straight sets victory over Poland’s Magda Linette in the second round match on Thursday.

The match, which lasted for one hour and 39 minutes ended with the Russian player’s victory over her Polish opponent.

The first set against Linette was a tough task for Sharapova, but the five-time Grand Slam champion managed to edge over the Polish player and then picked up her momentum in the second set, to book her third quarterfinal this year.

"We did a really good job of holding serve in the first set," the official website of the WTA (Women Tennis Association) quoted Sharapova as saying after the match.

"I feel like I made a few too many errors on my return game which ultimately led to a difficult first set but once I broke her early in that second set, I played a really good aggressive game and I felt like I had the momentum in the second," she added.

A day earlier, wildcard-invited Sharapova defeated also in straight sets 9-seed Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania.

The Russian is now scheduled to battle for the place in the semifinals against Switzerland’s Stefanie Voegele, who reached the quarterfinals roaming past Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva with straight sets victory 6-2; 6-3.

Although the annual WTA Tianjin Open is held for the fourth time, this year’s competition was a debut appearance at the tournament for Sharapova.

The WTA Tianjin Open tennis tournament in China puts $426,750 in prize money up for grabs and the organizers of the tennis competition in China, held between October 9 and 15, granted Sharapova a wildcard to enter the tournament.

Sharapova is Russia’s most decorated tennis player having won a total of five Grand Slam tournaments, namely the Australian Open in 2008, the French Open in 2012 and 2014, Wimbledon in 2004 and the US Open in 2006.

She also clinched the silver in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and was the 2008 Federations Cup champion.

After a 15-month long suspension for violating anti-doping regulations, Sharapova made her comeback to tennis in April at Stuttgart, where she stormed into the semifinals round of the tournament.

At the 2017 China Open, which closed last Sunday in Beijing, Sharapova lost in the third round stage and failed to advance further to the quarterfinals.