Pattaya: Unseeded Evgeniya Rodina of Russia stunned fourth seed Nara Kurumi of Japan 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the PTT Thailand Open yesterday.
Evgeniya Rodina.
The Russian had few problems against the world No.44 Japanese in the US$250,000 WTA event.
In today's quarter-finals, Rodina will meet Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia who upset sixth seed Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia 7-6, 6-3.
Two-time champion Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia keeps alive her hopes for a hat-trick of Pattaya wins when she beat Zheng Saisai 7-6 (7/5), 6-2.
World No.73 Hantuchova will next face another Chinese, Duan Ying Ying.
Duan comfortably beat compatriot Lin Zhu who retired due to a shoulder injury after losing the first set 6-1.
Anastasia Rodionova of Australia was another player who was forced to pull out of the tournament.
She had breathing problems while she was playing in the doubles with Russia's Vera Zvonareva.
Former world No.2 Zvonareva will take on New Zealand's Marina Erakovic in the singles quarter-finals.
In Antwerp, third seed Andrea Petkovic fought off eight match points to reach the quarter-finals of the Diamond Games tournament with a 6-7 (7/9), 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 win over local favourite Belgian Alison Van Uytvank on Wednesday.
In a marathon that lasted three hours and 20 minutes, the 103rd-ranked Van Uytvank came close to sealing a straight-sets win but Petkovic saved all eight match points in the 12th game of the second set and proved the stronger in the tie-break.
Van Uytvank struggled to recover as her German rival jumped to a 4-0 lead in the decider. Spurred on by her fans, the 20-year-old Belgian managed to break again but Petkovic prevailed.
Earlier, Dominika Cibulkova made light work of qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko to reach the second round with a 6-1, 6-2 victory.
Cibulkova will take on another qualifier in the next round after Indy de Vroome rallied past Tsvetana Pironkova 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
Eighth-seeded Karolina Pliskova and Monica Niculescu also progressed.
Pliskova got off to a strong start against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, jumping to a 4-0 lead, but her 56th-ranked Croatian opponent did not go down without a fight in a 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) loss.