Samantha Stosur has continued her promising French Open build-up by advancing to her first semi-final since reaching the last eight in Paris for a fourth time last year.
Stosur hammered nine aces en route to a 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 victory over Carla Suarez Navarro in Strasbourg on Thursday.
Champion in 2015, sixth-seeded Stosur will play either French fifth seed Caroline Garcia or Kristyna Pliskova on Friday for a place in the final.
With Daria Gavrilova and Ashleigh Barty squaring off in the quarter-finals on Friday, three Australian women made the last eight of a WTA event for the first time since Rachel McQuillan, Anne Minter and Kristin Godridge in Moscow in 1990.
Staying at the same - "but not the same room" - Gavrilova said it felt like a Fed Cup camp in sunny Strasbourg.
"It's awesome," she told AAP after outlasting Russian qualifier Elizaveta Kulichkova 6-3 6-7 (7-5) 6-4 to set up her showdown with Barty, a 6-3 6-0 winner over Italian Camila Giorgi.
"It's a good tournament for us. We're all like having dinners together and really enjoying our time."
Their good form bodes well ahead of Friday night's French Open draw in Paris.
"We're all playing really well. I've come from playing well in Rome and I'm just trying to keep my form." Gavrilova said.
"It's good preparation for Paris because playing matches is much more important and easier than trying to get a practice court in Roland Garros.
"And it's more stressful there, with so many people. Yeah, it's a good thing for me to be away from Roland Garros right now, so I've made the best decision to play here."
As has Barty, who backed up after her singles triumph to team with Casey Dellacqua and power into Saturday's doubles final with a 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 victory over Shuko Aoyama and Zhaoxuan Yang.
"It's a happy hunting ground for us," Barty said.
"We've played here well before and won the title here before so hopefully we can do that again."
Asked if she planned on having dinner as usual with Barty before their all quarter-final, the fiercely competitive 22-year-old said: "Probably not".
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