German fourth seed Angelique Kerber and compatriot Andrea Petkovic have both reached the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International.
Kerber took just 62 minutes to thrash American Madison Brengle 6-3, 6-0 at the Queensland Tennis Centre on Wednesday to set up a last clash with Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
It is the world No.10’s fourth straight quarterfinal appearance in Brisbane, however Kerber has never made it past the last eight at the tournament.
Doubles partner Petkovic will face American qualifier Samantha Crawford in the last eight after eliminating Ekaterina Makarova 7-5, 6-4.
Russian Makarova defeated lucky loser Margarita Gasparyan on Tuesday following Maria Sharapova’s withdrawal but couldn’t back up her display against the 2011 Australian Open quarterfinalist.
The victory was Petkovic’s 11th straight win against Russian opposition stretching back to Wimbledon in 2011.
World No.142 Crawford pulled off the shock result of Wednesday with a 7-5, 7-5 win over Swiss seventh seed Belinda Bencic.
The straight sets win over the world No.14 suggested the 2012 US Open junior champion could be a name to watch during the Australian summer.