Australian tennis stars Daria Gavrilova and Ashleigh Barty have both advanced to the quarter-finals of the Aegon Classic in Birmingham with tight wins.
Australian No.1 Gavrilova edged into the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon warm-up event with a 7-5 2-6 6-4 win over Czech Katerina Siniakova .
The world No.21 battled with her serve in hot conditions in England's second city, being broken six times, but showed great character to see off her 40th-ranked rival in just under two-and-a-half hours.
Awaiting Gavrilova in the quarters is another Czech, former Wimbledon semi-finalist Lucie Safarova, who advanced with a 6-2 6-4 win over American Naomi Osaka.
After Gavrilova moved forward Barty played a streaky match to upset Czech world No.22 Barbora Strycova, a player ranked 55 placed above her 6-3 3-6 6-1.
Barty got out to a 5-2 lead in the opening set before closing it out, her heavy forehand troubling the Czech player before taking a 2-0 lead in the second.
From there Strycova rallied, rattling off five straight games before taking the second set from a suddenly error-prone Barty.
After a talk from her coach at the start of the third set Barty reversed the momentum again, getting on top of Strycova, who was struggling to handle Barty's heavy slice as the 21-year-old Australian closed out the match.
For Barty the win continues her resurgence on tour and she felt a change of tactics in the third set helped her get the win.
"I think (Strycova) was a Top 20 player for a reason. She stayed solid and I gave her a few too many cheapies in that second set," Barty said.
"I think I just had to change a little bit tactically, and that worked in the third."
Barty will now play either Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi or second seed Elina Svitolina in the quarters.
Joining Barty and Gavrilova in the quarters is two-time Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova, on her own comeback from being stabbed in the hand during a home invasion.
Kvitova stormed past Britain's Naomi Broady 6-2 6-2 in a match that emphasised a gulf in class if nothing else.
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