Safina and Venus to meet in Stuttgart quarters

BERLIN (Reuters) - World number three Dinara Safina of Russia beat Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova 6-1 7-6 in the second round of the Stuttgart Grand Prix on Thursday to set up a quarter-final against Venus Williams.

Serb Jelena Jankovic, who will regain the top world ranking on Monday, also made it through to the quarters by beating Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-2 6-0. She will play Russia's Vera Zvonareva for a place in the semis.

Jankovic will replace top Stuttgart seed Serena Williams as world number one in the updated rankings after the U.S. Open champion was upset on Wednesday by China's Li Na.

The powerful Safina, playing her first match at the indoor tournament after receiving a first-round bye, raced through the first set against Pironkova but faced much stiffer resistance from the 21-year-old qualifier in the second.

Venus Williams brushed aside Alona Bondarenko's sister, Kateryna, in her second-round match with the Wimbledon champion and sixth seed serving 12 aces to help her to a 6-4 6-2 win.

"I feel comfortable at this tournament," Williams said in a courtside television interview. "It's already a great result and I would love to improve on it."

Williams and Safina have never played each other before.

Earlier, Safina's compatriot Nadia Petrova beat Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-4 6-1 and will play Li Na for a place in the semi-finals. Zvonareva had a comfortable victory over Marion Bartoli of France, winning 6-2 6-0.

Russian world number four Elena Dementieva takes on Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in Friday's remaining quarter-final.

(Writing by Iain Rogers; Editing by Alan Baldwin)