Australian wildcard Lizette Cabrera is through to the quarterfinals of the Hobart International after claiming an upset win over world No.62 Kristyna Pliskova on Wednesday.
Cabrera rallied from a set down and saved two break points at 3-3 in the final set to go 4-3 up, before holding her nerve through a number of long contested points to book a place in the quarterfinals.
The 22 year-old defeated eighth seed Caroline Garcia in the first round on Tuesday before backing up in the doubles alongside Sam Stosur to defeat Makoto Ninomiya and Renata Voracova yesterday afternoon.
Cabrera praised Pliskova’s powerful service game after her opponent sent down 14 aces, but was equally as pleased with her own.
“Her serve was unbelievable; I feel like I was getting aced every second point,” Cabrera said.
“I had to keep my head together and I held serve when I needed to.”
The wildcard explained her ability to overcome her tough opponents in Hobart to date down to keeping a positive mindset during testing moments.
“I think going into every tournament you should think that you can win it and not just win one round,” she said.
“These wins have given me a boost in confidence, but I’m still taking it one match at a time.”
In other results, fifth seed Veronika Kudermetova has cut short Catherine Bellis’ WTA return, defeating the American 7-6 6-1. The No.42 blasted 12 aces and won an impressive 70 percent of points off her first serve as she overpowered Bellis in the second set after the first was decided by a tie-break.
Lauren Davis ended the Hobart run of sixth seed Magda Linette, bundling out the No.43 in straight sets 6-4 6-4 to also move through into the quarterfinals.
Tickets for the Hobart International are on sale now via Ticketmaster.
Prices start from $20 for adults and entry is free for children with a paying adult across the entire event, including finals.