Serena Williams advances to the Rogers Cup quarter-finals
Friday 14 August 2015 01:57, UK
Top-ranked Serena Williams advanced to the Rogers Cup quarter-finals on Thursday night, beating 16th-seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany 6-3 6-2.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion will face Italy's Roberta Vinci, a 6-4 6-3 winner over Russia's Daria Gavrilova.
Williams has already won titles in Toronto titles in 2001, 2011 and 2013 and will be aiming for her fourth crown overall in Canada.
Second-seeded Simona Halep of Romania also advanced, outlasting 13th-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-3 5-7 6-4 in hot afternoon conditions.
"I did well in the last game," Halep said. "I said, 'I have to win it because I cannot move anymore.'"
Halep will face sixth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, a 6-2 4-6 6-4 winner over Alize Cornet of France.
In the late match, fifth-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia played Slovenia's Polona Hercog.
Unseeded Belinda Bencic topped big-hitting Sabine Lisicki from Germany 6-1 1-6 7-6 (7-3) to keep her run going.
The 20th-ranked player from Switzerland opened the tournament with a victory over slumping Canadian Eugenie Bouchard and followed it with an upset win over fifth-ranked Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.
Bencic will play the Ivanovic-Hercog winner.
Also, 15th-seeded Sara Errani of Italy beat Belarus' Victoria Azarenka 7-5 6-3, and Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko beat Germany's Carina Witthoeft 6-3 6-4.
