Johanna Konta through, Agnieszka Radwanska crashes out, Petra Kvitova pulls out
Johanna Konta beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to book her place in the Dubai Duty Free Championships quarter-finals, but former champion Agnieszka Radwanska lost while Petra Kvitova withdrew.
The seventh-seeded Konta became the first British woman to win a main draw match at the event when she beat Pavlyuchenkova 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.
Yet it was the Russian who had the early upper hand as she lead 4-2 in the opening set, but Konta broke back in the eighth game and then took the tie-breaker.
The British No 1 ran away with things in the second set as she broke in the first game and again in the fifth game.
“I’m very happy to have come through that,” Konta told WTATennis.com. “She’s definitely a tricky player. She plays very well and she doesn’t give you much rhythm with the weight of her shots.
“I came to Dubai last year, but I didn’t get to play. I’m just very happy that I was able to give myself another chance to compete.”
Next up for Konta is Daria Kasatkina after the Russian stunned former champion Radwanska 7-5, 6-4.
Japanese wildcard Naomi Osaka also claimed a shock win as she beat eighth seed Kristina Mladenovic 6-2, 6-2.
Meanwhile, newly crowned Qatar Open champion Kvitova won’t feature in Dubai as she has withdrawn from the tournament due to a leg injury.
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