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Stosur advances in Qatar

Samantha Stosur continued her run at the Qatar Total Open on Thursday, claiming a convincing 6-3 6-2 victory over Petra Cetkovska.

Stosur, seeded third for the tournament, came out firing on Thursday, proving just too good on the day for Cetkovska

“I played a good match, quite solid, and did what I had to do,” Stosur told the WTA website.

“I served well and returned well, which put pressure on her service games. As it went on I felt I was getting further and further ahead. I felt pretty good.

“It’s nice to win back-to-back matches again. This is a big event for us. It’s a good feeling, and I hope I can keep it going for a few more days.”

The world number five will face Monica Niculescu in the quarter-finals after she came back froma 5-2 deficit in the first set to beat Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko 7-6 (5_ 6-4.

“I didn’t start well but I started hitting many slices on the forehand and that helped me, because if I were hitting flat she would have liked that,” Niculescu said.

“I think I got a little lucky with the wind sometimes too. It was really tough actually, I’m just happy I survived the match.”

As for her quarter-final opponent, Niculescu said: “I played Sam a few years ago in Stanford and she won quite easily, then I drew her again right after that in LA and she beat me even more easily!

“But I’ve improved since then. I’ve been winning a lot more matches and I’m confident. I’ll give it my best shot when I play her and I’ll make sure I have fun.”

Should Stosur triumph in the quarters her next opponent could be Marion Bartoli as the Frenchwoman continued her course towards a semi-final clash with the Australian.

Bartoli beat Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3 6-3 and will play Lucie Safarova in the final eight. Safarova upset of 14th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova on Thursday, 7-6 (6) 6-3.

“I did very well last night against Caroline and followed that up with a very tough match against Svetlana today,” Safarova said. “It was a very close first set. I’m glad I won it and carried the momentum until the end of the match.

“Everything is together for me this week. I feel very good on serve and it’s helping me to win points in key moments. I hope to keep it going.”

In other results, top seed and world number one Victoria Azarenka defeated Simona Halep 6-3 6-1, fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska saw off Varvara Lepchenko 7-5 6-1, Christina McHale beat Shahar Peer 4-6 6-3 6-4 and Yanina Wickmayer was a 6-4 6-0 winner over Ksenia Pervak.