Top seed Clara Tauson and third seed Barbora Krejcikova advanced comfortably to the Athens Open quarter-finals on Thursday, while second-seeded Ann Li was upset by Russian teenager Alina Korneeva.
Denmark’s Tauson defeated Italian lucky loser Miriana Tona 6-4 6-0, and Czech Krejcikova eased past France’s Carole Monnet 6-0 6-2.
Korneeva produced the day’s biggest surprise, beating American second seed Li 6-2 6-2. Li struggled on serve throughout the match, winning only 25 of 60 service points.
Seventh-seeded Czech Tereza Valentova also progressed with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich, winning 16 of 19 points on her opponent’s second serve.
Tauson will face fifth-seeded Czech Sara Bejlek in Friday’s quarter-finals, while Greece’s fourth seed Maria Sakkari meets American Alycia Parks.
Badosa battles into Iasi quarter-finals
Spain’s Paula Badosa extended her winning run by defeating Russia’s Alevtina Ibragimova 7-6(5) 1-6 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the UniCredit Iasi Open in Romania.
The former world number two, who won the Bastad title last week, staged a remarkable comeback after dropping 10 of the previous 12 games and trailing 4-1 in the deciding set.
Badosa reeled off the final five games of the match and converted her fourth match point on Ibragimova’s serve.
Third-seeded Ukrainian Oleksandra Oliynykova cruised past Russia’s Elena Pridankina 6-1 6-2.
Hungary’s fifth seed Panna Udvardy recovered from a set down to defeat Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa 1-6 7-5 6-2.
Egypt’s Mayar Sherif also reached the last eight, beating Spain’s Kaitlin Quevedo 6-3 7-6(2).
