ESTORIL, Portugal, May 6 (UPI) -- Defending champion Maria Kirilenko of Russia beat Argentina's Maria Emilia 6-3, 6-0 Wednesday in a second-round match at the Estoril Open at Estoril, Portugal.
The women's second seed easily escaped the fate of top-seeded Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic by vanquishing her second-round opponent in less than one hour.
Benesova was beaten 7-5, 6-4 by non-seed Jarmila Groth of Slovakia.
Also, Russian Ekaterina Makarova, the No. 6 seed, slipped past Hungarian Melinda Czink, 5-7, 7-5, 7-5; third-seeded Sorana Cirstea of Romania beat Estonia's Maret Ani, 7-5, 6-2; fourth-seeded Sabine Lisicki of Germany topped Russian Elena Bovina, 6-4, 7-5; seventh-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel trounced Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 6-4, 6-1; and eighth-seeded Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany downed fellow German Kristina Barrois, 6-4, 6-4.
The quarterfinals are Kirilenko-Makarova; Cirtsea-Yvonne Wickmayer; Lisicki-Groenefeld; and Peer-Groth.
The 2009 women's Estoril winner will earn $37,000.
Among the men's winners on Wednesday were Russia's Nikolay Davydenko and American James Blake.
