Muguruza reaches Shenzhen quarters; Keys sails into 2nd round at Brisbane International
Former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza had a 6-1, 7-6 (2) win over American Shelby Rogers to advance to the quarterfinals of Shenzhen Open.
Muguruza will play Zarina Diyas in the quarterfinals after the Kazakhstan player defeated Anna Blinkova 6-1, 6-7 (9), 6-4.
"My goal is to play as many matches as I can, so I'm looking forward to my next match and to keep advancing in the tournament," Muguruza said. “I've never played (Diyas) so I'm looking forward to facing a new opponent."
Wednesday’s victory was the first time Muguruza has had consecutive wins at a WTA tournament since last year's French Open, where she advanced to the fourth round.
Fifth-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova extended her winning streak to seven matches when she defeated 2014 finalist Peng Shuai 7-6 (7), 6-1 in 83 minutes.
"The first set was tough, because the start was good, then the middle was so bad, and the end was okay," the Russian said.
"I think she played extremely well at the end in the first set. In the second set, I was lucky that I could break her, and after, it was much easier for me."
Alexandrova also saved the first set point before forcing the first set into tiebreak.
"It feels great to finally play in the quarterfinals here, because I'm playing for the fourth time here," Alexandrova said.
She will now meet fourth-seeded Qiang Wang in the quarterfinals after the Chinese player beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (5).
BRISBANE INTERNARIONAL
On the other hand, Madison Keys beat Samantha Stosur 7-5, 6-3 on Wednesday to be among three Americans with second-round wins at the Brisbane International.
Stosur had beaten former world No.1 Angelique Kerber to progress beyond the first round at the tournament for just the second time in seven years on Monday.
The Australian had an early break against Keys, the 2017 U.S. Open finalist, but the American broke back in the next game and then in the 12th game to take the first set.
Keys broke serve again to begin the second set before sealing victory in 77 minutes.
"Sam obviously has a great serve and a great forehand and she's really tricky off of her slice," Keys said. "So I've known that in the past; I just felt like in the past I wasn't doing a great job at handling my side of the court."
Stosur will continue her Australian Open preparation at the Hobart International next week.
In earlier American victories, Alison Riske beat Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-4 and Danielle Collins defeated Yulia Putintseva 6-1, 6-0.
Australian world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty won't begin her singles campaign until Thursday but is already just one win from the doubles final.
Barty combined with Dutch player Kiki Bertens to beat second-seeded Nicole Melichar and Yifan Xu 6-3, 6-2 in less than an hour on Wednesday.
Barty will play American Jennifer Brady in the second round in singles on Thursday
