The remaining three second-round matches at the HP Open in Osaka finished on Thursday and the quarterfinals are set.
Seed No.6 Madison Keys blitzed through her second match this season against 62nd-ranked Zhang Shuai in just 51 minutes and ended it 6-4 6-0, impressively winning 20 of the last 21 points of the match. The first set was close, before the American broke away from 3-4 and reeled off nine straight games for the victory.
The last two matches of the second round featured Zheng Jie, who eliminated seed No.9 Kristina Mladenovic of France in long three sets 6-7(5) 6-2 6-0, and an all-Japanese encounter in which underdog Misaki Doi eliminated compatriot and Japan’s No.1 Kimiko Date-Krumm in one hour and 47 minutes, 7-6(3) 6-4.
Quarterfinal pairs: Zheng Jie vs. Madison Keys [6], Samantha Stosur [3] vs. Misaki Doi, Eugenie Bouchard [5] vs. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova and Kurumi Nara vs. Polona Hercog. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)
