Garbine Muguruza advanced to the quarter-finals in Shenzhen with a 6-1 7-6(2) win over Shelby Rogers to record consecutive victories on the WTA tour for the first time since the 2019 French Open.
The Spaniard, 26, endured a torrid six months after she left Paris as she only won one match between the start of June and the end of her season in September.
To her credit, Muguruza has not dwelled on her struggles. She has re-hired Conchita Martinez, who guided her to Wimbledon glory in 2017, and she told wtatennis.com after her first-round win over Wang Xinyu that it was a “different team, different energy”.
The Spaniard elaborated, “We have worked together before – there’s no secret about it. We’ve known each other for a long time, we have a good connection – there’s no guarantees about it but so far, so good.”
Muguruza’s next task will be a last-eight clash with Zarina Diyas. The Kazakhstani edged out Belinda Bencic’s conqueror Anna Blinkova 6-1 6-7(9) 6-4 in a marathon 167-minute encounter.
The other quarter-final in the top half of the Shenzhen draw will be between Ekaterina Alexandrova and Wang Qiang. The Russian beat Peng Shuai 7-6(7) 6-1 and the Chinese overcame Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4 0-6 7-6(5).
Bouchard breezes through to Auckland quarter-final
The winning habit deserted Eugenie Bouchard for much of 2019. She recorded just eight victories in the 28 matches she played.
However, you would not guess that was the case if you watched her first two performances in 2020. She followed up a straight-sets triumph over Kirsten Flipkens with an even more impressive 6-4 6-4 win over Caroline Garcia.
Those victories have earned Bouchard an intriguing-looking quarter-final meeting with one of the best young players on tour: Amanda Anisimova.
Despite her new-found form, this may prove to be a step too far for the Canadian because the American has played some sparkling tennis so far in Auckland. She easily beat Kateryna Kozlova in round one and then unleashed an array of stunning winners during a comprehensive 6-2 6-4 win over Daria Kasatkina in round two.
Keys impresses in Brisbane
The Brisbane draw opened up on Monday when three of the best players suffered shock first-round exits.
One of the women who lost, Elina Svitolina, was seeded to face Madison Keys in the quarter-final. However, she was thrashed 6-1 6-1 by Danielle Collins. The talented American then backed up that win with similarly emphatic 6-1 6-0 victory over Yulia Putintseva to book her place in the last eight.
Keys also won her first and second round matches in straight sets. She beat Marie Bouzkova 6-2 6-3, which earned her a meeting with Angelique Kerber’s conqueror Sam Stosur. She knocked out the home favourite 7-5 6-3 to set up a potentially very exciting quarter-final with her compatriot Collins.
Elsewhere in Brisbane, Alison Riske maintained her remarkable recent upturn in results with a 6-3 6-4 win over Barbora Strycova. She will play either Karolina Pliskova or Alja Tomljanovic in the last eight.
