KEY POINTS:
Marina Erakovic today became the first New Zealander to reach the quarter-finals of the country's premier women's tournament in 18 years.
Erakovic beat Ashley Harkleroad of the US 7-6 7-5 in a hard fought contest.
Earlier, American drawcard Lindsay Davenport charged into the third round of the ASB Classic in Auckland.
The three-time Grand Slam winner, on the comeback trail after giving birth six months ago, saw off Spanish fifth seed Annabel Medina Garrigues in the second round.
Davenport rushed through the first set in just 21 minutes en route to a 6-1 4-6 6-0 victory.
Since giving birth to her son, Davenport has now won 15 of 16 singles matches on the WTA Tour.
Earlier, tournament top seed Vera Zvonareva, of Russia, brushed aside Sweden's Sofia Arvidsson 6-2 6-3, an identical scoreline to the win registered by sixth seeded Austrian Tamira Paszek over Frenchwoman Camille Pin.
Results from the ASB Classic in Auckland today (prefix denotes seeding):
Singles, second round
1-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) bt Sofia Arvidsson (Sweden) 6-2 6-3
6-Tamira Paszek (Austria) bt Camille Pin (France) 6-2 6-3
Lindsay Davenport (US) bt 5-Annabel Medina Garrigues (Spain) 6-1 4-6 6-0
Aravane Rezal (France) bt 7-Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) 7-5 6-4
Marina Erakovic (NZ) bt Ashley Harkleroad (US) 7-6 7-5
Doubles, quarterfinals
Martina Muller (Germany)/Barbora Zahlavova (Czech Republic) bt 3-Catalina Castano (Colombia)/Tiantian Sun (China) 2-6 6-4 10-6
- NZ HERALD STAFF, NZPA
