Australian No.1 Ashleigh Barty renews her rivalry with Kiki Bertens when the stakes are high again after the Dutchwoman made a surprising progression to the Canadian Open quarter-finals.
The pair first met in their final bid to qualify for the main draw of the Brisbane International in late 2013, where Barty prevailed in three sets.
Bertens set up an opportunity to avenge that defeat when she eliminated two-time Wimbledon champion and world No.8-ranked Czech Petra Kvitova 6-3 6-2 in third round action in Montreal.
Barty was the first player to advance to the quarters when she beat Alize Cornet 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 to atone for a straight sets loss to the Frenchwoman in their previous meeting during the opening round of the 2014 French Open.
The 22-year-old racked up six aces to subdue the world No.34 in one hour and 47 minutes.
Cornet had entered the match confident after stunning Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber 6-4 6-1 in the second round and did exert some pressure on Barty.
She had to break Cornet four times to close out a first set tiebreak, though the second set was more straightforward for the world No.16.
Bertens, ranked 18th in the world, claimed her sixth Top 10 scalp of the year with a clinical victory over a mistake-prone Kvitova, who committed 28 unforced errors.
World No.1 and tournament top seed Simona Halep booked a quarter-final with sixth seed Carolina Garcia after wrapping up her rain-affected second round clash before ending Venus Williams' campaign.
Halep first toppled Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6 (11-9) 4-6 7-5 before the Romanian had an easier task against American veteran Williams, winning 6-2 6-2.
Garcia was a 6-3 6-2 winner over Russia's Maria Sharapova while defending champion and fifth seed Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) bundled out Briton Johanna Konta 6-3 6-4.
Svitolina has drawn Belgium's Elise Mertens, who regrouped to oust Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) 2-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-0.
American third seed and reigning US Open champion Sloane Stephens beat Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 7-5 to book her spot in the quarters, where she will face Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova, a 6-3 7-6 (7-2) winner over German Julia Goerges.
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