Johanna Konta and Kristina Kucova to meet after third round Rogers Cup victories

29 July 2016 03:53

Johanna Konta's impressive recent form continued as she beat Varvara Lepchenko to earn a last eight meeting with qualifier Kristina Kucova in the Rogers Cup.

The British number one clinched her maiden WTA Tour title with victory over Williams at the Bank of West Classic in Stanford on Sunday - and her good form has continued in Montreal.

After knocking Shelby Rogers and Vania King out of the Rogers Cup, Konta followed up with a 6-3 6-2 third round victory over Tashkent-born American Lepchenko.

The 25-year-old will face Kucova for a place in the semi-finals after the Slovakian ended the hopes of home hope Eugenie Bouchard.

Montreal-born Bouchard, Wimbledon finalist in 2014, took the first set in Thursday's final third round match but qualifier Kucova raised her game in the second to level the contest.

Kucova produced a decisive break in the sixth game of the third set and, with Bouchard visibly frustrated, held her nerve - taking the first of three match points to wrap up a 3-6 6-4 6-3 victory in two hours and 16 minutes.

Elsewhere, Madison Keys defeated Venus Williams 6-1 6-7 6-3 to set up a last-eight clash against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

After finishing the contest with a 12th ace, Keys said: "To play really well at the start, then stop playing can be frustrating - but I was able to find my game again."

Russian Pavlyuchenkova, seeded 16, also needed three sets to progress, sinking fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-4 6-7 6-1.

Second seed Angelique Kerber bounced back well after losing the first set of her match against Elina Svitolina 6-1. The German won the next two sets 7-6 6-4 to knock out the Ukrainian and book a quarter-final with Daria Kasatkina, who beat Roberta Vinci 7-5 6-3.

The other quarter-final will be between Simona Halep, last year's runner-up in this tournament, and Svetlana Kuznetsova. Fifth seed Halep knocked out Karolina Pliskova 6-3 6-3, while n inth seed Kuznetsova was a 7-6 6-3 conqueror of Petra Kvitova.

Source: PA