BEIJING, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus advanced to the quarterfinals of the China Open tennis tournament after she beat Italy's Jasmine Paolini 6-4, 7-6(4) here on Thursday.
Both players broke three times in the second set, dragging the match into tie-break where Sabalenka held her nerve to win.
The top seed won the first set on the only break point of the set without hitting the ball after Paolini double faulted.
Sabalenka will take on fifth seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals.
Third seed Coco Gauff of the United States beat Russia's Veronika Kudermetova 7-6(5), 6-2, extending her winning streak to 15 matches.
In the quarterfinals, Gauff will meet Maria Sakkari of Greece, who held off China's Wang Xinyu 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
Caroline Garcia of France, seeded ninth, will next face second seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland in the final eight after she disposed of Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina 6-3, 6-2. ■
