MONTREAL (Reuters) - Jelena Jankovic crushed Canada's Stephanie Dubois 6-3 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the Montreal Cup on Thursday, keeping the pressure on fellow Serbian Ana Ivanovic in the battle for the top ranking.

Jankovic, who trails Ivanovic by just 88 points and can replace her as number one this week, needed just 76 minutes on a blustery centre court to reach the last eight.

Ivanovic will play Austria's Tamira Paszek later on Thursday for a place in the quarter-finals.

Just 24 hours after blowing Aleksandra Wozniak off court in less than hour, Jankovic was back to eliminate the last remaining home hope and set up a clash against unseeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova.

"I took out two Canadians, maybe the people will start to hate me now," joked Jankovic. "In those two matches, the crowd was obviously against me.

"Playing a Canadian in front of a home crowd it's not too easy to be in this kind of atmosphere. I'm pleased how I handled the whole situation."

World number four Svetlana Kuznetsova advanced to the quarter-finals of the Canadian event for the third time with a 7-5 2-6 6-4 win over 15-year-old Portuguese qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito.

The 169th-ranked Brito underlined her credentials as a rising talent, providing the 2004 U.S. Open champion with a two hour, 20 minute battle.

"I think I've left a mark here in Montreal," Brito told reporters. "I just play to win. A Grand Slam champion...she's really a great player. It was a really tough match.

"But it was a fun match, I enjoyed myself. It was a good fight."

Seventh seed Dinara Safina, riding the momentum from her title win on Sunday in Los Angeles, raced into the quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-2 thrashing of Swiss ninth seed Patty Schnyder.

Cibulkova, who had already scored a second-round upset over fifth seed Elena Dementieva, claimed another Russian scalp with a 7-6 6-2 win over 12th seed Nadia Petrova.

Tenth-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli also advanced after outlasting Russian sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze 4-6 7-5 7-6.

Japan's Ai Sugiyama was the first player through, advancing in a walkover when world number three Maria Sharapova pulled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury on Wednesday.

(Editing by Alastair Himmer)