Stephens, Wozniacki Advance in Auckland
Caroline Wozniacki cruised into the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic on Wednesday, wasting no time in a 6-0, 6-2 victory over American Christina McHale.
With top seeds Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic eliminated in the first round, the draw has opened up for the Dane, who is the highest seed remaining.
“I played well today, hopefully I can keep that up,” said Wozniacki. “It’s a good sign for me going into the Australian Open, that I can raise my level early in the season, I usually struggle a bit in the first few rounds.”
Wozniacki will take on Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru for a spot in the semifinals. Dulgheru moved past Marina Erakovic 7-6(4), 6-3 late Tuesday night.
American Sloane Stephens fought back from a set down to upend Germany’s Carina Witthoeft 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. She will take on Great Britain’s Naomi Broady next.
Broady had the most dramatic victory of the day, battling back from 2-5 down in the second set and 1-5 in the third set to defeat Latvian qualifier Jelena Ostapenko 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5.
In the other Auckland quarterfinals, Nao Hibino will take on Julia Goerges, while Tamira Paszek plays Kirsten Flipkens.
At the Shenzhen Open in China, top-seed Agnieszka Radwanska continued her good start to 2016 by beating Chinese qualifier Shuai Zhang 6-1, 7-5. She next plays China’s Qiang Wang.
Wang, who upset fifth-seed Johanna Konta in the opening round, beat American Vania King 7-6(3), 6-3 on Wednesday.
Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard advanced to the quarterfinals on Wednesday as well. The sixth-seed knocked off American qualifier Nicole Gibbs 6-4, 6-2 to set up a matchup with Hungary’s Timea Babos, who ousted fourth-seeded Romanian Monica Niculescu 6-1, 6-4.
American Allison Riske made her way into the final eight in Shenzhen, fighting back from a set down to knock off Su-Wei Hsieh 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2. Riske will meet Estonian Anett Kontaveit for a spot in the semifinals.
