By Adrianna Outlaw | Thursday, September 22, 2016
Garbiñe Muguruza avenged her US Open loss with a straight-sets win, while US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova sputtered in Tokyo today.
Photo credit: AP Photo
Roland Garros champion Garbiñe Muguruza rolled, while US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova sputtered in Tokyo today.
Muguruza wasn't exactly in a New York state of mind when she took the court at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
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Playing her first match since her stunning US Open upset loss to Anastasija Sevastova, the top-seeded Spaniard needed just 73 minutes to send Sevastova packing in Tokyo.
Muguruza broke serve five times in a 6-3, 6-3 sweep to reach her sixth quarterfinal of the season.
The 2015 Wimbledon finalist will face Elina Svitolina for a spot in the final four. Svitolina exploited seven double faults from eighth-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory.
Muguruza has won two of three meetings with the world No. 20, but Svitolina scored a 7-6 (3), 6-3 win in their most recent encounter in Dubai earlier this season.
A pair of qualifiers also reached the last eight.
Qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich upset the third-seeded Pliskova, 6-4, 6-2. US Open runner-up Pliskova is ranked 101 spots above the 107th-ranked Belarusian, but had no answer for Sasnovich, who won 19 of 30 points played on Pliskova's second serve.
Sasnovich will play Japanese wild card Naomi Osaka, who crushed sixth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova yesterday.
World No. 109 Magda Linette outlasted Yulia Putintseva, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, in two hours, 50 minutes.
The Polish qualifier will face resurgent Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals. The former world No. 1 has gone the distance scoring successive wins over Belinda Bencic and fourth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro