Petra Kvitova knocked out Aryna Sabalenka 6-4 6-4 in 1 hour and 25 minutes at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Kvitova leads 3-2 over Sabalenka in their five head-to-head matches.
The two-time Wimbledon champion scored her 11th career win over a top 2 player to advance to her first quarter final of the season.
Kvitova won 74% of her first serve points and converted four of her eight break points.
Kvitova earned an early break in the opening game. Sabalenka broke back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2, but Kvitova broke serve for the second game to take a 4-3 lead.
Kvitova earned three set points, as she was serving for the set at 5-4, and converted her third chance with a backhand.
Kvitova came back from a break down in the third game before earning the crucial break in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. The Czech player held her next two service games to close out the second set 6-4.
Kvitova beats Jelena Ostapenko, who came back from one set down to beat Iga Swiatek 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-4) in a match between two former Roland Garros champions reaching the quarter finals at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Ostapenko claimed her third win over Swiatek in as many head-to-head matches after beating her Polish opponent in Birmingham 2019 and Indian Wells 2021.
The opening set featured six consecutive breaks. Swiatek went up a break three times, but Ostapenko pulled back on serve each time to draw level to 4-4. Swiatek held serve before sealing the first set 6-4 with a break in the 10th game.
Ostapenko won nine of the next ten games to build a 6-1 3-0 lead in the third set and held a point for 4-0. Swiatek saved a double break point with a service winner in the fourth game with a service winner to draw level to 3-3. Ostapenko converted her seventh break point with a forehand down the line to take a 5-3 lead.
Ostapenko was not able to serve out the win, as she double faulted down a break point, and missed a match point in the next game with a long backhand. The Latvian player dropped her serve to trail 5-6. Ostapenko opened up a 2-0 lead with a mini-break. Swiatek broke back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. Ostapenko earned two more mini-breaks to seal the tie-break 7-4 on her match point.
Ostapenko set up a quarter final match against
Jill Teichmann knocked out Elina Svitolina 7-6 (7-2) 6-0.
Dayana Yastremska took out last year’s Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova 6-3 7-7 (7-3) in 1 hour and 42 minutes. Yastremska advanced to her first quarter final in 2022 with her second consecutive win over Svitolina. The Swiss player saved six match point to beat Svitolina 2-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5) in the opening round of the Madrid Mutua Open last year.
Teichmann dropped only seven points on her first serve and saved all the five break points she faced n the second set. Svitolina saved the only break point of the first set to take the first set to the tie-break. Teichmann earned four mini-breaks to take a bagel win in the tie-break.
Teichmann won four consecutive deuce games from 0-1 down to open up a 4-1 lead with two breaks of serve and served out the second set after saving a break point in the eighth game.
Teichmann reached her first WTA 1000 semifinal in Dubai last year. The Swiss player lost to Katerina Siniakova in the last round of qualifying, but she entered the main draw as a lucky loser.
Teichmann set up a quarter final match against Veronika Kudemertova, who rallied from one set down to upset defending champion Gabrine Muguruza 3-6 6-4 6-4 against 2 hours and 17 minutes. Muguruza won each of their previous head-to-head matches.
Kudemertova claimed her second consecutive over a former world number 1 player after beating Victoria Azarenka in the first round.
Kudemertova reached the final at the Melbourne Summer Set 1 finishing runner-up to Simona Halep and the third round at the Australian Open last January.
Muguruza broke serve in the second game to take a 3-0 lead. Kudemertova converted her third break point in the fifth game for 2-3. Muguruza earned her second break at deuce in the sixth game and hit an ace to seal the first set 6-3 with a hold at love.
Kudemertova saved a single break point in the first game of the second set and closed out the second set 6-4 with her only break in the 10th game with a forehand winner.Both players held their serve until 4-4 in the third set. Kudemertova saved two break points before breaking serve in the 10th game to close out the second set 6-4 when Muguruza made three consecutive double faults.
