Stuttgart: Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko continued to build for her Paris title defence with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Zarina Diyas on Thursday at the Stuttgart Grand Prix.
The Latvian was joined in the quarter-finals at the Porsche arena by fifth seed Karolina Pliskova as the Czech beat Russian qualifier Veronika Kudermetova 7-6, 6-3.
Ostapenko, ranked fifth on the WTA, broke her 52nd Kazakh opponent five times as she won in just 63 minutes.
“The early matches are tough but I think I played really well today and I’m just happy with the win,” Ostapenko said.
The 20-year-old added that said she is still adjusting to life as a Grand Slam champion: “I expected I could win a Grand Slam but not at this early age.
“I just understood a couple of months later. Of course, there is more attention from everyone. I got more popular especially in my country and almost every match I played I was as a favourite.
“At the beginning of this year, it was a little bit tough, a lot of pressure but I think I got used to it; especially after the Miami final (which she lost to Sloane Stephens) I’m feeling much better.”
Pliskova, noted for a big serve, hammered 15 aces as she beat Kudermetova in a match that lasted just past the 90-minute mark.
The Czech won her first with the No. 193rd-ranked Russian.
At the Barcelona Open on the ATP Tour, No. 2 seed Grigor Dimitrov was made to fight for his 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 win over Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri. The Bulgarian got the vital break late in the first set but succumb to his opponent, who levelled the scores at one set apiece. The third set was an even affair before Dimitrov secured the victory in a tiebreak 10-8.
Elsewhere, Stefan Tsitsipas defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 7-5 and Novak Djokovic’s conqueror Martin Klizan beat Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 6-4
Third seed Dominic Thiem got the better of Jozef Kovalik 7-6, 6-2.
