Ashleigh Barty's Australian Open preparations are now in full swing after dispatching local qualifier Ellen Perez in straight sets to move into the final eight of the Sydney International.
Barty put her Brisbane International hiccup behind her by backing up her tournament-opening win at Homebush with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 victory over the Australian wildcard on Tuesday.
Forced to wait almost two hours due to a thunderstorm, Barty also had to overcome some serving kinks, double-faulting five times in a tense first set.
Both players also broke serve once each, however the Ipswich product showed why she's been the talk of the Australian tennis circuit by holding her nerve in the closely-fought tiebreaker.
The 21-year-old then romped home by losing just a single game in the second set to book a quarter-final against world No.21 Barbora Strycova on Wednesday night.
A win there would lead to a possible semi-final against top seed Garbine Muguruza, who meets Kiki Bertens on Wednesday, or fellow Australians Samantha Stosur and Daria Gavrilova.
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