Second seed Vera Zvonareva breezed into the Western and Southern Open quarterfinals with a comfortable victory over qualifier Petra Martic.
Russia’s Zvonareva, the highest-ranked player left in the draw after top seed Caroline Wozniacki crashed out in the first round, took just one hour to secure a 6-2 6-2 success against her Croatian opponent in Cincinnati.
The Cincinnati Open claimed two more high-profile victims on Thursday with grand slam champions Li Na and Petra Kvitova crashing out, while Russian pair Maria Sharapova and Vera Zvonareva crunched their opponents en route to the quarter-finals.
A day after world number one Caroline Wozniacki, star attraction Serena Williams and third seed Victoria Azarenka exited the tournament in defeat or through injury, French Open winner Li tumbled with a 6-4 3-6 6-4 loss to Samantha Stosur.
Li, China’s first grand slam singles winner, was also beaten last week in Toronto by the Australian, who will meet Sharapova in the last eight.
Stosur is hitting a good run of form in the run-up to the US Open, where she reached the quarter-finals last year.
“It would be the biggest title I’ve ever won,” the 10th seed told reporters. “It would be fantastic but there is still a fair way to go before that can happen.
“I guess making the final last week gives me good confidence going into this week,” added the 10th seed, who was runner-up in Toronto.
Wimbledon champion Kvitova fell to emerging German talent Andrea Petkovic, ranked 11th in the world, who enjoyed a 6-3 6-3 win in front of a smattering of fans on an outside court.
At the same time, on center court, Sharapova was making quick work of compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova in a 6-2 6-3 victory. “I felt really good considering I was playing a pretty tough opponent,” said Sharapova.
