Brisbane, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - Former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic eased into the quarterfinals Wednesday at the season-opening $1 million Brisbane International tennis event.
The second-seeded Serbian star subdued Aussie wild card Jarmila Gajdosova 6-4, 6-1 on the hardcourts at Queensland Tennis Centre.
Ivanovic's quarterfinal opponent on Thursday will be Estonian slugger and 2012 Brisbane champion Kaia Kanepi, who advanced by besting American qualifier Madison Brengle 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).
Also on Wednesday, seventh-seeded Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro overcame Croatian veteran Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 and Russian lucky loser Alla Kudryavtseva surprised rising Czech Karolina Pliskova 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Thursday's other quarters will pit top-seeded former No. 1 Maria Sharapova against Suarez Navarro, third-seeded German Angelique Kerber versus Ukrainian Elina Svitolina and Kudryavtseva against American Varvara Lepchenko.
Brisbane serves as a tune-up for the Aussie Open, which will begin January 19 in Melbourne.
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