Carla Suarez Navarro is still in the hunt at the Brazil Cup…
The 25-year-old Spanish tennis player, the tournaments top seed, defeated Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens 6-3, 7-6 (2) to reach the quarterfinals of the Brazil Cup on Wednesday.
Both players broke serve twice in the final set, but Navarro dominated in the tiebreak to finish out the match in 1 hour, 45 minutes. The match was briefly interrupted in the second set because of rain.
Navarro will face fifth-seeded Monica Niculescu of Romania, who beat qualifier Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 6-3, 6-1.
Third-seeded Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic, trying to reach her third final this year, cruised into the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-3 win over French qualifier Alize Lim.
Zakopalova, runner up at last week’s Rio Open, will face Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania, who defeated Brazilian Teliana Pereira 7-5, 6-2.