Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk crushed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-1 and will meet another Russian, Anastasia Potapova, in the Indian Wells quarter-finals after she beat Jasmine Paolini 7-5 0-6 6-3 earlier on Tuesday.
Kostyuk only dropped four points on serve in the match and broke Pavlyuchenkova five times to reach her first quarter-final at a WTA 1000 event.
Kostyuk edged Pavlyuchenkova in a tight three-setter at the San Diego Open earlier this month but had an easier time in their fourth-round battle under sunny skies in the California desert.
“It definitely helped that I played her (recently),” Kostyuk told Tennis Channel.
“The conditions were much better for my game here, the ball bounces much higher, and it’s a bit warmer. I didn’t feel like I was in so much trouble like I did in San Diego.”
The 21-year-old Kostyuk is seeded 31st at the tournament. She reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in January for her best result at a Grand Slam.
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Potapova booked her first trip to the quarter-finals of a WTA 1000 event with her win over Dubai champion Paolini.
Potapova disappeared in the one-sided second set but recovered to snap Paulini’s eight-match winning streak, sealing the victory when the 13th-seeded Italian’s backhand went wide on match point.
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