Paula Badosa of Spain bolstered her start to the season by sealing a spot in the Adelaide International 2 quarterfinals with a 6-1, 7-5 win over lucky loser Kaia Kanepi, here on Wednesday.
With her 1-hour and 23-minute victory over seven-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist Kanepi, No.9 seed Badosa has defeated the two Estonians ranked inside the Top 40 back-to-back this week. She ousted Estonian No.1 Anett Kontaveit in the first round.
Former World No.2 Badosa survived 27 winners from big-hitting Kanepi to level their rivalry at one win apiece. Badosa had 22 winners and just eight unforced errors in the match.
The Spaniard eased through the first set before Kanepi made a much tougher test of things in the second set. However, a backhand volley winner in the 4-4 game gave Badosa a breakpoint, which she converted after a wide rally backhand by Kanepi.
Kanepi, though, returned to level footing immediately, as Badosa double-faulted the next game away when serving for the match. But Badosa used heavy, deep returns to reclaim her break and lead 6-5, where she successfully served out the win on the second time of asking.
Badosa will next meet No.11 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, who defeated another lucky loser, Amanda Anisimova, earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, No.5 seed Daria Kasatkina also moved into the quarterfinals with a win on Wednesday. Kasatkina knocked out former Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova 6-2, 7-5 to clinch her spot in the elite eight.
World No.8 Kasatkina took an hour and a half to notch the victory and level her head-to-head record against Krejcikova at 1-1. Kasatkina hit six aces and converted four of her seven break points en route to her first win of the 2023 season.
Kasatkina will take on another Grand Slam champion in the quarterfinals when she faces two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova on Thursday. In their only prior meeting, Kvitova dismissed Kasatkina 6-4, 6-0 in the 2018 Madrid quarterfinals.
