Kei Nishikori and Victoria Azarenka move through to Brisbane quarters
ByReuters
Updated 06/01/2016 at 15:02 GMT
Japan's Kei Nishikori and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus continued their Australian Open preparations by swiftly marching through to the quarter finals of the Brisbane International on Wednesday.
Kei Nishikori, Copa Masters 2015
Image credit: AFP
Nishikori cruised past Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3 6-4 on Pat Rafter Arena before twice Australian Open champion Azarenka dispatched Belgian lucky loser Ysaline Bonaventure 6-3 6-2.
Azarenka battled with her serve early in the first set against the young Belgian, who played valiantly after stepping in for world number two Simona Halep, who pulled out with an Achilles problem.
Azarenka, currently ranked 22 in the world, served seven double faults and lost her opening service game but broke back in a marathon fourth game to take control of the contest as her novice opponent faded.
The Belarusian whizzed through the second set in just over half an hour and sealed victory on her first match point when Bonaventure sent a forehand return long.
Azarenka will next play US Open finalist Roberta Vinci of Italy for a place in the semi-finals.
Nishikori also reached the final of the New York grand slam in 2014 and his game looks suited to the hot and fast conditions likely to await the players in Melbourne when the year's first major gets underway on Jan. 18.
The Japanese second seed needed only 90 minutes to brush past Kukushkin and meets Bernard Tomic, victor over Czech Radek Stepanek 7-6(6) 4-6 7-6(4).
Third seed Marin Cilic progressed with a 7-5 7-6(3) win over Hyeon Chung.
Elsewhere, Caroline Wozniacki advanced at the Auckland Classic with a straight-forward 6-0 6-2 win over Christina McHale, while Sloane Stephens beat Carina Witthoeft 3-6 6-1 6-3.
And at the Shenzhen Open, Agnieszka Radwanska eased into the third round with a 6-1 7-5 triumph over home favourite Zheng Saisai.
Eugenie Bouchard was another winner, continuing her unbeaten start to 2016 with a 6-4 6-2 win over American Nicole Gibbs.
Results from the Brisbane International Round 2 matches on Wednesday
MEN
7-Bernard Tomic (Australia) beat Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) 7-6(6) 4-6 7-6(4)
3-Marin Cilic (Croatia) beat Chung Hyeon (South Korea) 7-5 7-6(3)
2-Kei Nishikori (Japan) beat Mikhail Kukushkin (Kazakhstan) 6-3 6-4
8-Dominic Thiem (Austria) beat Denis Kudla (US) 6-3 6-2
WOMEN
Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) beat Ysaline Bonaventure (Belgium) 6-3 6-2
Andrea Petkovic (Germany) beat Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) 7-5 6-4
Samantha Crawford (US) beat 7-Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) 7-5 7-5
4-Angelique Kerber (Germany) beat Madison Brengle (U.S.) 6-3 6-0
Results from the Auckland Classic Round 2 matches on Wednesday
WOMEN
3-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) beat Christina McHale (US) 6-0 6-2
Alexandra Dulgheru (Romania) beat Marina Erakovic (New Zealand) 7-6(4) 6-3
Julia Goerges (Germany) beat 7-Barbora Strycova (Czech Republic) 6-4 7-6(7)
Naomi Broady (Britain) beat Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) 4-6 7-6(4) 7-5
Kirsten Flipkens (Belgium) beat Irina Falconi (US) 6-1 4-6 6-2
Nao Hibino (Japan) beat Darya Kasatkina (Russia) 7-5 2-6 7-5
5-Sloane Stephens (US) beat Carina Witthoeft (Germany) 3-6 6-1 6-3
Tamira Paszek (Austria) beat 4-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 6-2 6-3
Results from the Shenzhen Open Round 2 matches on Wednesday
WOMEN
Anett Kontaveit (Estonia) beat Zheng Saisai (China) 6-1 6-2
1-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) beat Zhang Shuai (China) 6-1 7-5
Wang Qiang (China) beat Vania King (US) 7-6(3) 6-3
Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) beat 7-Zarina Diyas (Kazakhstan) 6-0 6-4
6-Eugenie Bouchard (Canada) beat Nicole Gibbs (US) 6-4 6-2
Alison Riske (US) beat Hsieh Su-Wei (Taiwan) 3-6 7-5 6-1
Timea Babos (Hungary) beat 4-Monica Niculescu (Romania) 6-1 6-4
Anna-Lena Friedsam (Germany) beat 3-Irina Begu (Romania) 7-5 3-2 (Begu retired)
Results from the Chennai Open Men's Singles Round 2 matches on Wednesday
MEN
5-Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) beat Ante Pavic (Croatia) 7-6(5) 6-1
1-Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) beat Andrey Rublev (Russia) 6-3 6-2
8-Borna Coric (Croatia) beat Austin Krajicek (U.S.) 6-2 7-5
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