KEY POINTS:
The winning run of New Zealand's Marina Erakovic extended to eight games as she battled into the quarterfinals of the US$200,000 ($268,168) DFS Classic women's tennis tournament in Birmingham today.
Erakovic beat unseeded Russian Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3 7-5 in a testing third-round match at the Edgbaston Priory Club.
It was a tougher match than her second-round demolition of Indian world No 33 Sania Mirza yesterday but world No 64 Erakovic still had control, using her superior serve to good effect.
She knocked down six aces to Shvedova's one and landed an excellent 70 per cent of her first serves.
Victory sets up a quarterfinal against experienced Ukranian fifth-seed Alona Bondarenko in tomorrow's quarterfinals.
The 20-year-old Aucklander will chase her ninth successive win since her French Open exit last month, having won a US$50,000 tournament in London last week.
Bondarenko, 23, needed three sets today to beat world No 160 Sunitha Rao of India.
The Ukranian world No 29 is the second-highest ranked player remaining in a tournament where upsets have abounded. She is one of just three seeds to have reached the last eight.
Erakovic pronounced herself pleased to advance after encountering dogged resistance from world No 129 Shvedova today.
The New Zealander won 76 points overall to 65 in a match lasting 87 minutes.
"I'm very happy that I won today because I played someone that really hits the ball well, cleanly and hard," she told reporters.
- NZPA