Adelaide, Jan 6 (AP) Former French Open champion Iga Swiatek advanced to the Adelaide International quarterfinals with a surprisingly easy 6-1, 6-2 win Thursday over 2021 U.S. Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez.

The fifth-seeded Swiatek joined top-ranked Ash Barty in the last eight and will play the winner of the later match between Priscilla Hon and two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka.

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Barty will play the winner of Thursday night's match between her fellow Australian Ajla Tomljaovic and 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.

Seventh-seeded Elina Rybakina and American Shelby Rogers, who beat No. 3 seed Maria Sakkari, have already set up a quarterfinal match.

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The other last-eight matchup will feature Kaja Juvan, who upset No. 2-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the second round, against Misaki Doi or Anastasia Gasanova.

"I felt really confident," Swiatek said. "And I'm pretty happy that I could finish it really quickly and I didn't let go of focus."

Rafael Nadal was playing later Thursday at an ATP Melbourne tournament, one of the six tune-up events being staged in Australia this week ahead of the season-opening major at Melbourne Park starting Jan. 17. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)