Samantha Stosur has powered into her fifth quarter-final of the year with a straight-sets dispatch of Kazakh qualifier Sesil Karatantcheva at the Southern California Open.
In a promising sign ahead of next month's US Open, fifth-seeded Stosur blasted past Karatantcheva 6-4 6-1, her victory marking back-to-back hardcourt wins for the first time since March.
Australia's 2011 Flushing Meadows champion will face either second seed Agnieszka Radwanska or Daniela Hantuchova for a semi-final spot.
Top seed Victoria Azarenka also cruised into the last eight, the Australian Open titleholder celebrating her 24th birthday with a 6-2 6-3 defeat of fellow grand slam winner Francesca Schiavone.
Azarenka was playing her first match in nearly six weeks after withdrawing with an ankle injury in her Wimbledon second round.
"Going on court and competing was such a joy," said the winner of 16 career WTA titles who went through gruelling rehab to get her damaged ankle right. "I was excited to play, I've never quite felt like that before a match.
"I really wanted to go out there and compete."
The top seed next meets either Ursula Radwanska or sixth seed Jelena Jankovic.
Serbian seventh seed Ana Ivanovic closed out the first round as she beat Slovak holder Dominika Cibulkova 4-6 6-3 6-2.
Ivanovic is going it alone after a long post-Wimbledon pause and a split with long-time British coach Nigel Sears.
She said she didn't pick up a racquet for a fortnight after her second-round Wimbledon upset loss to Canadian teenager Eugenie Bouchard, and spent some time with her family on a Spanish beach holiday.
Ivanovic is back to work with a new all-Serbian team comprising a fulltime fitness coach, physio and a sparing partner who also helps her plot match strategy.
"I needed a change, we both did," she said of the amicable split with Sears, father of Andy Murray's girlfriend Kim. "It's just about hearing a new voice. There was a lot of repetition in the relationship and I didn't feel like I was progressing in my game.
"I wasn't going where I wanted to go. It was frustrating for him as well. I"m sure he wanted to get the best out of me. I had to do something radical."
The former world No.1 will stick with her new team and is not rushing to hire a new coach just yet. She can call on the coaching team of sponsor Adidas as well during tournaments.
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