Australia’s Gavrilova through to quarters

HONG KONG: Last year’s Hong Kong Open runner-up Daria Gavrilova admitted she had lost her concentration Thursday as she made hard work of dispatching unseeded Monica Niculescu over almost three gruelling hours.

The Australian needed a third set tiebreaker — which she closed out with an emphatic smash — to finally break her resilient Romanian opponent, whose forehand slice and confident net play unnerved the seventh seed. Gavrilova started the match in cruise control but her game started to unravel towards the end of the first set as unforced errors crept in, and Niculescu fought back with an armoury that also included a powerful double-handed backhand. The 24-year-old described Niculescu as a “fighter” but added she had not made it easy for herself as she ground out the 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3) win. Gavrilova, the world number 34, has enjoyed an impressive run of recent form in Asia, beating world number 18 Jelena Ostapenko in Wuhan and stunning world number seven Petra Kvitova in Beijing.

But after two three-set matches so far this week, she now faces China’s number two Zhang Shuai, who wrapped up a 6-1, 6-7 (4/7), 6-1 victory against the Netherlands’ Lesley Kerkhove. Speaking after the win, Zhang said she felt “everything is coming together”.