Pierce back on track

Pierce, 31, faces Russian Maria Sharapova in Friday's late quarter-final, as she continues her comeback from a nasty torn muscle in her right foot which has seen her sitting on the sidelines for the past half-year.

Her last outing came as far back as the 12th of February, in the all-French final of the Paris Open, when she lost out to compatriot Amelie Mauresmo.

But last year's winner in San Diego rapidly seems to be coming to terms with that defeat in Paris, as well as her time away from the courts, saying she could not wait to get back into action.

"Everybody around me advised me to stay in Florida for another couple of weeks to fine tune my preparation, but I wanted to come," Pierce told French sports daily L'Equipe on Friday.

The world number nine also revealed why she was able to get back into the swing of WTA tour tennis with such apparent ease.

"Physically, I'm on form, because I continued to train during my lengthy lay-off by spending hours in the gym, but also by doing some cycling and swimming," she said.

That time spent working out clearly helped Pierce through her second round encounter in San Diego, as she was made to sweat against Austria's Sybille Bammer.

Pierce eventually triumphed 6-1 6-7 7-6 before stepping up a gear to cruise past the challenge of Finland's Emma Laine 6-6 6-1 in the third round, leaving her to believe that she is not far away from operating at full capacity.

"Overall, I'm not too far away from the level which allowed me to win last year," Pierce said. "It's just a question of two or three weeks in my opinion."

Her next test comes in the form of world number four Sharapova, who has found her passage through to the quarter finals relatively easy, with a comfortable 6-2 6-4 win over compatriot Vasilisa Bardina, followed by a walkover Vera Zvonereva, who was forced to retire in their third round match.

Also in action on Friday are Swiss fifth seed Patty Schnyder and Elena Dementieva, whilst Czech teen sensation Nicole Vaidisova takes on fellow youngster Anna Chakvetadze.