updated 7:54 p.m. ET June 14, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, England - French Open semifinalists Maria Sharapova and Jelena Jankovic advanced to the third round at the DFS Classic on Wednesday.

Sharapova, who is trying to win her third straight title at the Wimbledon warm-up tournament, struggled early but beat American qualifier Lilia Osterloh 6-4, 6-0. Jankovic defeated Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-4, 6-1.

Both Sharapova and Jankovic lost in the semifinals last week at the French Open.

"(Grass) is so different from clay and makes you use different muscles, which can be difficult at first. But I always enjoy playing on this surface," Sharapova said. "And that performance was OK."

Sharapova faced two break points in her opening service game, but recovered and eased through the second set. The second-ranked Russian will next face Tamira Paszek of Austria, who beat 13th-seeded Meilen Tu of the United States 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Jankovic, who lost to top-ranked Justine Henin in the semifinals at Roland Garros, has moved up to No. 3 in the women's rankings.

"I've shown I can beat every player in the world except Henin," the second-seeded Serb said. "I've had difficulty with her but I was close quite a few times and I think I belong at the top of the game."

Jankovic is now targeting Wimbledon, which starts June 25.

Slide show   The Week in Sports Pictures Fireworks, crash landings, Wimbledon theatrics and more. more photos

"Wimbledon is one of my favorite tournaments and I would love to play well and do well there," Jankovic said. "It's my dream to become number one and maybe if I stay healthy I will make it."

Eighth-seeded Mara Santangelo of Italy and No. 9 Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine also advanced. Santangelo beat Sania Mirza of India 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (6), and Vakulenko defeated Andreja Klepac of Slovenia 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3.

Also, Yuliana Fedak of Ukraine defeated Milagros Sequera of Venezuela 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Rain postponed play on Thursday, with more wet weather expected Friday.

MORE FROM TENNIS

Tennis Section Front

2 arrested for stalking Indian tennis star Mirza Tennis and tweeting for Gimelstob Blake to play 6-foot-10 Karlovic in Davis Cup Safin dropped from singles matchup with Israel Two-time defending Newport champ Santoro wins Tennis player suspended, fined for racial abuse Dulko saves more match points to make Bastad semis   Video: Venus gives back to kids   Video: 4-year-old phenom dazzles tennis world Interactive: Building the perfect tennis player Tennis Section Front   Add Tennis headlines to your news reader: