Bertens and Sabalenka start strongly in St Petersburg, Ostapenko beaten

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St Petersburg, February 1: Kiki Bertens and Aryna Sabalenka cruised into the last eight of the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy on Thursday, comfortably winning their opening matches.

Second seed Bertens took exactly an hour to see off qualifier Ysaline Bonaventure 6-4 6-2, the world number eight dominant on serve throughout the contest.

Sabalenka, who has moved into the WTA's top 10 for the first time, was similarly impressive as she also overcame a Belgian opponent, beating Alison Van Uytvanck 6-1 6-4.

Next up for Sabalenka is a clash with Ekaterina Alexandrova, who triumphed 7-5 6-2 against fellow qualifier Tereza Martincova.

Bertens, meanwhile, will face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova after the Russian ousted sixth seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-4 6-4.

At the Thailand Open, Tamara Zidansek came through a remarkable contest with Jennifer Brady.

Zidansek took the first set, lost the second 6-0 and then blew three match points after opening up a 5-1, 40-0 lead in the third.

Brady then failed to convert two match points of her own before Zidansek eventually triumphed 11-9 in a decisive tie-breaker, taking her seventh opportunity to finish a topsy-turvy match.

Magda Linette, Viktorija Golubic and Wang Yafan are also through to the quarter-finals in Hua Hin, the latter benefiting from Zhang Shuai's retirement through illness.