Paris, France (Sports Network) - Dinara Safina continued to overwhelm her opposition in the French Open with a straight-set rout of Aravane Rezai in the fourth round on Sunday, but there will not be a rematch of last year's final after defending champion Ana Ivanovic was eliminated by Victoria Azarenka.
Safina, the top seed and world No. 1, needed just 53 minutes to blow past her French foe in 6-1, 6-0 fashion. The Russian has simply been dominant in her first four matches, having dropped a mere five games en route to the quarterfinals.
"I take one point at a time," said Safina. "I don't waste my energy. Every point is important. No free points. No stupid mistakes. Just point by point I'm playing."
A much-anticipated replay of last year's title match was expected for Safina in the quarterfinals, but the eighth-seeded Ivanovic did not hold up her end of the bargain.
The ninth-seeded Azarenka was an easy 6-2, 6-3 winner against the Serbian star on Sunday, putting the 19-year-old Belarussian into her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal.
"It's something really big for me," said Azarenka. "It's a new step, and I'm just really looking forward for the challenge to see how well I do with in my next step."
Ivanovic, who fought through dizziness in Sunday's loss, was a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Safina in last year's French final, capturing her first career Grand Slam title after a runner-up finish at Roland Garros the year before.
Safina is trying to duplicate that feat. In addition to her loss in last year's French Open final, she was also the runner-up to Serena Williams earlier this year in the Australian Open and since taking over the No. 1 ranking has been the hottest player in women's tennis with titles at Rome and Madrid heading into this fortnight.
"It was too much pressure for me," said Safina about the rise toward No. 1. "It was always going on the court not to lose a match, and of course it's always difficult to play when you step on the court and you're afraid of losing. Then you don't play your game.
"So, I think once I go to the No. 1 spot, [it took the weight] off my shoulders. Like, okay, I'm there where I wanted to be. Now I just want to go out there and play."
Also Sunday, Maria Sharapova of Russia and Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova won fourth-round matches and will meet next in the quarterfinals.
Sharapova, the former world No. 1 and a previous winner of the Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open, is trying to complete a career Grand Slam. She just returned to singles tennis last week after being sidelined by a shoulder injury for nearly 10 months.
On Sunday, Sharapova battled to a 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 win over China's Li Na and will play in her fourth Roland Garros quarterfinal. Only in 2007 did she advance to the semifinals.
Cibulkova, meanwhile, earned her first trip to a Grand Slam quarterfinal with a 6-2, 6-4 triumph over Hungary's Agnes Szavay. The 20th-seeded Cibulkova, who just turned 20 years old earlier this month, reached the fourth round at the Australian Open earlier this year and was a third-round loser in each of her first two French Open appearances.
Szavay, a quarterfinalist at the 2007 U.S. Open, was coming off a 6-0, 6-4 win against third-seeded American Venus Williams in the third round on Friday.
Second-seeded American Serena Williams is on Monday's schedule and will play a fourth-round match against Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak. Also on Monday, fifth- seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic will take on Romania's Sorana Cirstea and seventh- seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova will face Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, the 12th seed. The other fourth-rounder will pit Australia's Samantha Stosur against French favorite Virginie Razzano. Stosur took out fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva in the third round on Saturday.