Kvitova crushes defending champ Muguruza

Petra Kvitova breezed past defending champion Garbine Muguruza 6-1 6-4 on Wednesday to move into the quarterfinals of the China Open.

In a second round match earlier in the day, world No.1 Angelique Kerber battled past Barbora Strycova to reach the last 16.

Kvitova, the winner of last week’s Wuhan Open title, won three of her four break point opportunities against the second-seeded Spaniard to ease to victory in one hour and 13 minutes.

Now on an eight-match winning streak, the Czech continues her late push for a spot in the WTA finals in Singapore.

Kvitova, the 14th seed, will next face eighth-seeded American Madison Keys, who fought back from a 2-5 deficit in the first set to beat Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6(2) 6-2.

“I think I’m mentally tough right now. I know that my game is there so I know I just need to hit it like I can,” Kvitova said.

German Kerber twice failed to close out the match against Strycova before overcoming a late surge from the Czech to win 6-3 7-6(4).

Kerber will face Elina Svitolina of Ukraine for a spot in the quarterfinals.

In other results, Australia’s Daria Gavrilova upset Swiss 12th seed Timea Bacsinszky 4-6 6-0 6-4 in just shy of two and a half hours to book a spot in the third round, where she will face Frenchwoman Carolina Garcia.

US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova also secured her place in the third round after recovering from losing the first set against Daria Kasatkina of Russia to win 3-6 7-5 7-6(7).

Pliskova, the fifth seed, will face Britain’s Johanna Konta, who beat Hungary’s Timea Babos 7-5 6-2 in a rain-affected match.