Fifth seed Carla Suarez-Navarro of Spain advanced to the Kremlin Cup quarter-finals with a straight-sets victory over Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia on Tuesday.
At the ATP and WTA joint event in Moscow, Suarez-Navarro chalked up a 6-4, 7-5 win in 1 hour, 46 minutes to keep alive her chances of obtaining one of the remaining spots in the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore.
“I have lost all of my previous meetings with her, but I have learned from those defeats,” Suarez-Navarro said. “I played [a] good game... The key was to stay focused throughout the match.”
Sixth seed Czech Karolina Pliskova, who needs to win the tournament to book a place at the WTA Finals, battled into the second round after a tough three-setter with Alexandra Dulghery of Romania 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (9/7).
Pliskova, 15th in the WTA rankings, took the opening set in 49 minutes and grabbed a 3-1 lead in the second, but Dulgheru rallied to take four consecutive games to level at one set all after 1 hour, 33 minutes on court.
The deciding set looked almost a carbon copy of the second as Dulgheru was trailing 4-1, but managed to pull the scores level again.
However, in the tiebreak, 23-year-old Pliskova, who is seeking her fifth career title in Moscow, was slightly more accurate, winning the set and her first-ever match against Dulgheru.
“It was pretty tough, because she was playing solid from the baseline,” Pliskova said. “I almost died today, so I am really happy that I still have a chance to get to Singapore, although I know I need to win the tournament here.”
In the ATP section, fifth seed Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas, who is seeking his fourth career title, barely broke sweat as he cruised into the second round when the Spanish qualifier Pere Riba retired through injury after losing the first set 6-1.
“I am happy to proceed to the second round even though it has happened because of my rival’s retirement, but I was pleased with my play during that small time that I have spent on court here and I hope to continue to play like that in the next round,” Cuevas said.
Russia’s wild-card entry Evgeny Donskoy upset 18-year-old Croat Borna Coric, who was seeded sixth, seeing him off in straight sets 6-4, 6-4.
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