Karolina Pliskova and Garbine Muguruza re-established order among seeds on Wednesday as both reached the quarterfinals of the WTA Dubai Championships. World No. 3 Pliskova strolled to a 6-1, 6-2 defeat of qualifier Kristina Mladenovic in barely an hour, before ninth seed Muguruza took almost two-and-a-half hours to get past Russian Veronika Kudermetova 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. Three big names had exited on Tuesday, with holder Belinda Bencic, third seed Elina Svitolina and Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin all going out. Top seed Simona Halep plays her opener later against fan favorite Ons Jabeur of Tunisia. Pliskova pegged back Mladenovic after the Frenchwoman earned only her first main-draw win of the season in the first round. "It's always a tough one against her. We played in Australia, so I knew what to expect," Pliskova said. "I was not playing amazing but still, even with a couple of mistakes, I didn't give up. "The score looked a little bit easier than it really was, we had a couple of tough games." Muguruza had to struggle two days after beating Kim Clijsters in the Belgian's first WTA match since 2012 after announcing a surprise comeback aged 36. "There's a lot of things that I could have done better," two-time Grand Slam champion Muguruza said. "But I'm excited that I gave myself another opportunity to be in the quarters." Last month's Australian Open finalist added: "I'm just happy that I get these tough matches. "Honestly, the difference is very, very small, I'm just pleased to go through." Muguruza secured her place with a break in the final game as she converted her first match point. She will bid for a semifinal place on Thursday, taking on Jennifer Brady, a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 winner against Marketa Vondrousova. After Vondrousova led by a set and 4-1, Brady, ranked 52, claimed the final five games of the second set and then won the last five games of the third. She will now compete in her second quarterfinal of the year as a qualifier, following her impressive run last month in Brisbane where after qualifying she defeated both Maria Sharapova and world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty before losing to Petra Kvitova. "Every day we are witnessing some remarkable performances that keep us on the edge of our seat," said Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free. "The fact that Garbine Muguruza had to fight so hard today to overcome qualifier Veronika Kudermetova shows yet again the strength and depth of competition that is gathered this week in Dubai. I am sure we will enjoy many similar exciting matches in the days ahead." Tournament Director Salah Tahlak added, "Jennifer Brady has impressed us all once again with another remarkable performance. She will clearly not be qualifying at many more tournaments as she swiftly climbs the rankings, and Garbine Muguruza will certainly not be taking her lightly in their quarter-final. It will be very interesting to see who will emerge as the winner." — Agencies
