Jelena Jankovic and Samantha Stosur all class in reaching Hong Kong Open quarter-finals
Russian sixth seed Daria Gavrilova and Heather Watson of Britain also make it through as momentum builds at the Hong Kong Open
So far, so good for the seeded players at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open as Jelena Jankovic, Daria Gavrilova and Samantha Stosur all secured safe passage into the quarter-finals at Victoria Park yesterday.
Fourth-seeded Jankovic booked her place in the last eight of the US$250,000 event in assured style as she completed a 6-0, 6-2 win against outclassed Russian-born Australian Anastasia Rodionova.
With qualifiers and long shots beginning to fall away, the Serbian said her approach would stay the same.
"It doesn't matter who I play - if it's a qualifier or a top seed - I just try to be focused on my game. I never underestimate an opponent."
The 30-year-old will now face Russian sixth seed Gavrilova in a quarter-final match tomorrow after she progressed courtesy of a 7-6, 6-1 win over Spain's Lara Arruabarrena.'
Jankovic said she is an admirer of the youngster.
"She's a tough player. She's a great fighter and very consistent ... it will be our first encounter and I look forward to playing against her.
The 36th-ranked Gavrilova, in her first full year on the WTA tour, produced some splendid tennis to ease to victory against the 23-year-old Spaniard in a brisk second set after edging the opener in a tie-breaker.
"I'm pretty happy with my performance. I played much better than the day before," said Gavrilova.
"It was pretty tough - we had some long rallies, but I ended up winning so I'm happy."
It doesn't matter who I play - if it's a qualifier or a top seed - I just try to be focused on my game. I never underestimate an opponent
Joining the pair in the last eight is Australia's Samantha Stosur who had too much class for Puerto Rican Monica Puig.
Stosur, a former US Open champion, notched up her fourth win in four matches against the 22-year-old with a classy 6-4, 6-4 win.
"Tonight's match was more difficult than the last time we played," said the 31-year-old. "I think she's improved a little bit since then.
"I'm enjoying my time here and hopefully I can keep playing well - tonight I played very well. If I can keep playing like this, then it will be a nice tournament to finish the season with," added Stosur.
Her quarter-final opponent will be Britain's Heather Watson who overcame Taipei's Lee Ya-hsuan 6-0, 6-7, 6-4.
Watson's hard-fought win was another step towards her book-ending an ultimately disappointing season with a second WTA victory following on from her curtain-raising WTA win in Hobart at the start of this year.
Thursday's order of play:
Centre Court (starting at 3pm): Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) v 8-Alize Cornet (France); 7-Caroline Garcia (France) v Anastasiya Komardina (Russia); 3-Venus Williams (US) v Wang Yafan (China); Kurumi Nara (Japan) v 2-Angelique Kerber (Germany).
Court One (starting at 3pm): Doubles: 1-Lara Arruabarrena (Spain) and Andreja Klepac (Slovenia) v Ki Yan-tung and Ng Man-ying (Hong Kong). Nicha Lertpitaksincha (Thailand) and Peangtam Plipuech (Thailand) v 2-Klaudia Jans-Ignacik (Poland) and Anastasia Rodionova (Australia); Chuang Chia-jung and Luksika Kumkhum (Thailand) v 4-Alize Cornet (France) and Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan).
Reults, second round: 4-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat Anastasia Rodionova (Australia) 6-0, 6-2; 5-Samantha Stosur (Australia) beat Monica Puig (Puerto Rico) 6-4, 6-4; 6-Daria Gavrilova (Russia) beat Lara Arruabarrena (Spain) 7-6 (7-4), 6-1; Heather Watson (Britain) beat Lee Ya-hsuan (Taiwan) 6-0, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4.
