Serbian Bojana Jovanovski was tested early against Australian wildcard Olivia Rogowska but fought back to score a 2-6 6-2 6-0 win tonight.
The eighth seed looked in trouble early in the second round match, which was the feature match of the day three evening session.
Rogowska, the world no. 176, was firing early in the match. She was striking the ball with confidence and playing aggressive tennis.
An upset looked on the cards until Jovanovski wrestled back control of the match in the second set, taking it 6-2.
Rogowska had a break point opportunity early in the third set but was unable to capitalise. As her frustrations grew, Jovanovski’s level lifted as she stormed home to take the deciding set in convincing fashion.
“I found my game in the third set and I’m really happy to win this match,” Jovanovski said.
The world no.34 said a wrist injury had hampened her preparations, meaning her confidence was not at a high.
“I was just trying to find my game and not think about my injury,” Jovanovski said. “Tomorrow I’m not playing so I’ve got time to recover and I’ll try to play better in my next match.”
Jovanovski will face either top seed Samantha Stosur of Australia or France’s Kristina Mladenovic in the quarter-finals.
A disappointed Rogowska knew she let an opportunity slip to reach a second career WTA quarter-final.
“I was in control of that match and playing really well in the first set,” Rogowska said. “She changed it up a bit and started going for her shots a bit more and I tightened up a bit, so that wasn’t great. I’m a bit disappointed.”
“There is things I probably could have done better, just taken my time instead of rushing the play and I should have tried to break her momentum a bit more.”
Rogowska will now turn her attention to next week’s Australian Open, having found out earlier today she had received a wildcard into the singles main draw.