Daria Gavrilova held off a gallant Timea Babos to take her place in the last eight of the WTA Connecticut Open in New Haven.
New Haven, CT, USA, 23 August 2017 | AAP
Gavrilova, who recently overtook Sam Stosur to become Australia’s top-ranked female player earlier this year, triumphed in a tight contest, 7-5 7-6(6), winning six straight tiebreak points to take the second set and advance.
Tuesday’s clash was the second time the pair had met, with the ledger now standing at one apiece.
Gavrilova beat qualifier Kristyna Pliskova, younger sister of world No.1 Karolina, in the first round, making this the first tournament since Birmingham in June that she’s won back-to-back matches.
The Melburnian will take on a qualifier in the quarters; either former world No.13 Kirsten Flipkens or Romanian Ana Bogdan.