Petra Kvitova blasted her way to the quarter-finals after a 6-3 6-3 win over Caroline Garcia.
The Czech continued her aggressive tennis to make the last eight as Garcia’s backhand and second serve failed to live up to the test.
Another win means she is now into the quarter-finals and sets up a rematch of last year’s final with the dangerous Kiki Bertens.
Bertens eased past Anastasija Sevastova with the loss of three games to make the last eight.
In the first set there wasn’t much to separate the two players as they proved to be dominant on there serves as they needed to be aggressive.
A lot of depth on the return was key for Garcia to stay competitive in this match as Kvitova was on a six match winning streak.
Both used there serve really well with the world number two landing more of her first serves in. However it was the Czech Republican who got the first break of the match as she targeted the backhand of Garcia.
Although she constructed some good points in the following game, Garcia failed to close off the angles as she wasted a break point opportunity.
A deadly serve out wide sealed the set for the defending champion as she proceeded to give her trademark ‘Pojd’ roar in front of a full crowd in Manolo Santana.
The second set saw Kvitova showed aggression as she created a few break point opportunities. However there was a lack of clinical finishing as Garcia made her pay for some passive tactics.
Even though Garcia escaped the agressive returns of Garcia in the third game, she couldn’t escape it in the next game as a stunning forehand return proved too much for the Frenchwoman. The Czech Republican now had the break at 3-2 and was in firm control.
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There was a lack of rhythm and precision on the Garcia serve as she couldn’t quite the variety needed to throw Kvitova off her game.
Meanwhile it was the complete opposite for the second seed as she took the ball early and caused Garcia’s backhand all sorts of problems.
Another sizzling backhand return sealed another break of serve and her place in the quarter-finals as her title defence continues.
Next up for the in-form Czech is a rematch of the Stuttgart and last year’s Madrid final as she takes on Kiki Bertens. Both meetings saw Kvitova win in three sets.
