Daria Gavrilova fought for almost two-and-a-half hours to subdue the dangerous Katerina Siniakova and progress to the quarterfinals in Birmingham.
Birmingham, UK, 21 June 2017 | AAP/tennis.com.au
The world No.21 battled with her serve in hot conditions in England’s second city, being broken six times, but showed great character to see off her 40th-ranked rival in just under two-and-a-half hours.
Gavrilova recovered from 4-2 down in the opening set and despite letting slip a 2-0 lead in the third set, re-focused to break serve again in the fifth game – an advantage she maintained for the rest of the match.
She next faces either former top-tenner Lucie Safarova or Japanese young gun Naomi Osaka in the last eight.
Fellow Australian Ashleigh Barty will face eighth-seeded Czech Barbra Strycova later on Wednesday.