Fourth-seeded Angelique Kerber and fellow German Andrea Petkovic advanced to the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International with straight-set wins yesterday.
Kerber beat Madison Brengle 6-3, 6-0 to set up a meeting with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, while Petkovic had a 7-5, 6-4 win over Ekaterina Makarova to move into a quarter-final against US qualifier Samantha Crawford, who had an upset 7-5, 7-5 win over seventh-seeded Belinda Bencic.
The two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka reached the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Ysaline Bonaventure.
Photo: AFP
Bonaventure, a lucky loser from qualifying, was cast into the second round yesterday as a replacement for top-seeded Simona Halep, who had a bye before withdrawing from a scheduled second-round match with Azarenka because of an Achilles tendon problem.
The No. 2-ranked Halep announced her withdrawal within an hour of defending champion Maria Sharapova pulling out of the tournament with a left forearm injury.
On the men’s side, second-seeded Kei Nishikori advanced to the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Mikhail Kukushkin in his first competitive outing of the season in Australia.
Photo: AFP
He is aiming to reach the semifinals in Brisbane for the fourth straight year with a win over Bernard Tomic, who defeated Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4).
Eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Denis Kudla.
Photo: AFP
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