IT was a massive day on court for Russia at St Petersburg Ladies Trophy, with all four home nation players advancing through to the quarter finals, while the rest of the Round of 32 were completed at the Abierto GNP Seguros, and the Round of 16 underway.

It was a quadruple treat in St Petersburg for the home fans as four Russians booked their spots in the quarter finals courtesy of wins in the Round of 16 overnight. Top seed Ekaterina Alexandrova led the charge with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Czech Tereza Martincova, followed by fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova‘s straight sets win over Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu, 6-1 7-5.

The big upset was veteran Vera Zvonareva‘s come-from-behind epic match against third seed Frenchwoman Fiona Ferro. Zvonareva needed three hours and 10 minutes to finally shake off Ferro, winning 6-7 7-5 7-6. Having dropped the first set in a heartbreaking 8-6 result, the Russian bounced back to take the second set 7-5, then held on in the third set tiebreaker to win that 7-3.

In other results, the fourth Russian to win was Anastasia Gasanova who knocked off Ukrainian Katarina Zavatska in three sets, 6-2 6-7 7-5, while Romanian qualifier Jaqueline Cristian upset sixth seed Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, winning 6-3 7-6 in just under two hours of action in the late match.

ST PETERSBURG LADIES TROPHY ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

[1] Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) defeated Tereza Martincova (CZE) 6-3 6-4
[WC] Vera Zvonareva (RUS) defeated [3] Fiona Ferro (FRA) 6-7 7-5 7-6
[4] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) defeated [Q] Wang Xinyu (CHN) 6-1 7-5
[Q] Jaqueline Cristian (ROU) defeated [6] Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) 6-4 7-6
Anastasia Gasanova (RUS) defeated Katarina Zavatska (UKR) 6-2 6-7 7-5

Due to the time difference in publishing, the Abierto GNP Seguros Round of 32 results were completed later yesterday, with a couple of huge upsets in the opening round of action. Both the second seed and sixth seed were ousted by qualifiers later in the day, with only the one seed – having to come from behind – advancing into the second round to play later today.

That seed was seventh seed Sara Sorribes Tormo who defeated Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko in three sets, 5-7 6-2 6-4 to advance through to the Round of 16 after an epic battle. The news was not as good for fellow seeds, second seed Nadia Podoroska and sixth seed Anna Blinkova. The Argentinian Podroska lost out to Russian qualifier Anna Kalinskaya 6-4 6-4, while the Russian Blinkova was overcome by Swiss qualifier Viktorija Golubic, 6-4 6-4. In the other completed Round of 32 match, China’s Zhu Lin defeated Canadian Eugenie Bouchard 7-5 7-6.

The Round of 16 matches got underway this morning, with Slovakian Viktoria Kuzmova getting the first up win over lucky loser Harriet Dart, 6-4 6-3. It was an important win for Kuzmova who was able to be the first player to secure her spot in the quarter finals. In the second match, Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova knocked off Italian Jasmine Paolini in three sets, 2-6 6-2 6-2. Two matches were due to be played later today between Slovakian lucky loser Kristina Kucova and Canadian Leylah Fernandez, and Sorribes Tormo and Slovenian qualifier Kaja Juvan.

ABIERTO GNP SEGUROS ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

Viktoria Kuzmova (SVK) defeated [LL] Harriet Dart (GBR) 6-4 6-3
Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (SVK) defeated Jasmine Paolini (ITA) 2-6 6-2 6-2
[LL] Kristina Kucova (SVK) vs. Leylah Fernandez (CAN)
[7] Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP) vs. [Q] Kaja Juvan (SLO)

ABIERTO GNP SEGUROS ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

[7] Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP) defeated [Q] Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) 5-7 6-2 6-4
[Q] Viktorija Golubic (SUI) defeated [6] Ana Blinkova (RUS) 6-4 6-4
[Q] Anna Kalinskaya (RUS) defeated [2] Nadia Podoroska (ARG) 6-4 6-4
Zhu Lin (CHN) defeated [se] Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) 7-5 7-6

Picture credit: Jimmie48/WTA