Petra Kvitova crashed out of the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy, but Jelena Ostapenko is safely through to the quarter-finals.

Two-time grand slam champion Kvitova was comfortably beaten in straight sets by Irina-Camelia Begu, with the Romanian winning 6-4 6-0 in just one hour and nine minutes.

The effectiveness of the first serve was the main difference-maker, with Begu winning 73.1 per cent of her first-serve points, while Kvitova – who has 28 singles titles to her name in contrast to her opponents' four – could only manage 50 per cent.

Begu was set to face the winner of Tereza Martincova's tie with Elena Rybakina, but the latter withdrew because of illness.

Seventh seed Ostapenko made light work of Andrea Petkovic as she beat the German 6-1 6-2 in just 58 minutes, helped largely by winning 85.3 per cent of her first serves, as well as saving all five of the break points she offered up.

Ostapenko has now won two of her four meetings with Petkovic and will next face Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who eased to a 6-2 6-3 victory over Jaqueline Cristian.

Maria Sakkari and Anett Kontaveit were among the big names to cruise through to the quarter-finals of the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy on Wednesday.

Top seed Sakkari faced Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second round and recorded a routine 6-2 6-4 triumph as she looks to bounce back from a fourth-round exit at the Australian Open. 

The Greek will next face a difficult contest with Elise Mertens, who needed three sets to see off the challenge presented by Petra Martic and seal a 6-4 3-6 6-2 success. 

Second seed Kontaveit recorded a 6-4 7-5 victory over Romania's Sorana Cirstea to set up a tantalising meeting with Belinda Bencic after the Swiss downed Kaja Juvan 6-1 7-6 (7-2). 

World number 12 Elena Rybakina, meanwhile, needed less than an hour to record a straight-sets victory over Varvara Gracheva, booking an encounter with Tereza Martincova in the round of 16. 

US Open champion Emma Raducanu suffered the heaviest defeat of her professional career at the hands of Elena Rybakina at the Sydney Tennis Classic.

The ninth seed needed just 55 minutes to storm to a 6-0 6-1 victory to set up a meeting with Caroline Garcia in round two.

This was only Raducanu's eighth appearance in a WTA main draw and the 19-year old had not played since November having contracted COVID-19 and then withdrawn from the Melbourne Summer Set last week.

Rybakina lost only 11 points on serve in the match, sending down four aces. Raducanu, by contrast, struggled badly: the Briton gave up six double faults and won just two points behind her second serve.

"My serve is a weapon, so I'm always working on it and trying to find some variety," said Rybakina. "For sure, it's my game to play aggressive and my serve is helping a lot."

Elsewhere in Sydney, Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic beat Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-3 6-2 in her first match of the year and will now face France's Oceane Dodin.

Home favourite Ajla Tomljanovic defeated Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in straight sets, while world number 20 Elise Mertens also progressed.

At the Adelaide International 2, Coco Gauff looked in strong form as she dispatched Katerina Siniakova 6-1 6-2, while fellow seed Tamara Zidansek beat Heather Watson in a three-set battle.

There was a shock for top seed Aryna Sabalenka, though, as she fell 5-7 6-1 7-5 to Sweden's Rebecca Peterson, who celebrated her first win over a top-five player, while American Lauren Davis beat seventh seed Jil Teichmann in three sets.

Ninth seed Sorana Cirstea lost in straight sets to Anhelina Kalinina, but eighth seed Liudmila Samsonova beat Mayar Sherif.

Ash Barty defeated Elena Rybakina in straight sets to claim the Adelaide International title, while Simona Halep clinched silverware in Melbourne.

World number one and heavy favourite Barty prevailed 6-3 6-2 against Rybakina to claim the Adelaide title for a second time in three seasons.

The 25-year-old recovered from 40-15 down in the seventh game and went on to immediately earn the only break of the opening set.

Barty did not look back as she held throughout the second set, meaning she went 35 consecutive games without losing serve to conclude the tournament.

After securing a 14th WTA singles title in a little over an hour, Barty now turns focus to next week's Sydney Tennis Classic ahead of beginning her Australian Open campaign.

"I feel good leading up to an Australian Open like I have every year," Barty, who hit 17 winners to 13 unforced errors, said after seeing off Rybakina. 

"Each and every preparation is unique. We take it for what comes and what it is, move on, try and do the best that we can in every opportunity.

"It has absolutely no effect on the way that I prepare or the way I'm thinking leading forward just because it's a Grand Slam. It doesn't change for us."

Halep, one of Barty's likely rivals for the Australian Open crown, also made a bright start to the year by overcoming Veronika Kudermetova in the Melbourne Summer Set 1 final.

The number two seed, who is aiming to put last year's injury-ravaged and trophyless season behind her, came out on top 6-2 6-3.

She recovered from an early break down in the first set and again in the second to make it 23 career titles, and a first since the 2020 Italian Open.

It could easily have been a different story, however, as Kudermetova had three break points to move 3-0 ahead in the second set, but the Russian could not take full advantage.

Amanda Anisimova defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich at the Melbourne Summer Set 2 final to claim the first WTA title of the season, and her second overall.

Belarusian qualifier Sasnovich hit back in style to take the second set 6-1 after losing the opener 7-5, but Anisimova recovered from a break down to edge the deciding set 6-4.

In doing so, Anisimova became the first American to win a title on Australian soil since Sofia Kenin's Australian Open triumph in 2020.

Ash Barty moved a step closer to a second Adelaide International title in three seasons as she crushed defending champion Iga Swiatek's hopes in the semi-finals.

Competing as a stepping stone towards her principal goal of challenging for the Australian Open title later in the month, home favourite Barty sped to a 6-2 6-4 win over the 2020 French Open winner.

She served fewer aces than Swiatek – five to the seven fired down by the 20-year-old Pole – but Barty's powerful forehand proved decisive as she made snappy work of ending the contest.

Barty will face Elena Rybakina in Sunday's final, after the Kazakh beat Japan's Misaki Doi 6-4 6-3. Queenslander Barty beat Dayana Yastremska in the 2020 final.

Having won the French Open and Wimbledon already in her career, Barty will be the favourite at the Australian Open, which begins on January 17 in Melbourne.

The world number one, by seeing off ninth-ranked Swiatek, boosted her win-loss record against top-10 WTA rivals to 8-1 since the beginning of last year.

Barty said, quoted on the WTA website: "It is exciting to be able to play well here in Australia. This is where I want to play my best tennis. I want to give myself an opportunity to play for titles in Australia.

"It's something really exciting to start the year off as an Aussie player in front of our home fans."

Reflecting on a positive performance, Barty, who has also reached the doubles final with Storm Sanders, said: "I felt like on Iga's service games I was able to get into most of them, which is important when you're playing someone who can dominate with that first ball and first strike.

"I felt like I was able to build pressure over time, making her play a lot of balls on her service games, not giving her too many cheapies."

Swiatek is entered into next week's Sydney Classic and learned on Saturday that she faces a testing opener there, having been drawn to face Great Britain's US Open champion Emma Raducanu in a standout first-round match.

At the Melbourne Summer Set 2 tournament, Russian third seed Daria Kasatkina suffered a shock 6-2 6-0 semi-final defeat at the hands of American world number 78 Amanda Anisimova.

Anisimova goes on to face fellow unseeded player Aliaksandra Sasnovich for the title, after the Belarusian beat American Ann Li 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-3.

Petra Kvitova was on the receiving end of an upset in the first round of the WTA International in Adelaide as she was surprisingly beaten by wildcard Priscilla Hon on Monday.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova, who ended 2021 among the world's top 20 players for the first time since 2016, lost in three sets to her Australian opponent 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 6-2. The victory was Hon's first ever against a player in the top 40.

Elsewhere, number three seed Maria Sakkari saw off Slovenia's Tamara Zidansek 6-2 0-6 6-4, while number seven seed Elena Rybakina earned a 6-4 1-6 6-1 win over Storm Sanders.

Leylah Fernandez, the 2021 US Open runner-up, also looked comfortable in a straight-sets victory against Ekaterina Alexandrova, easing past the Russian 6-3 6-4. The 19-year-old will face either number five seed Iga Swiatek or Daria Saville in the next round.

Heather Watson is out after a 6-4 7-6 (7-5) loss to home favourite Ajla Tomljanovic, while in the doubles event, Japanese pair and top seeds Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama were beaten 6-4 6-2 by Victoria Azarenka and Paula Badosa, who will play against one another in the singles on Tuesday.

Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic eased to a straight-sets win over Sara Sorribes Tormo to maintain her good form and book a place in the Ostrava Open quarter-finals.

Third seed Bencic needed just 88 minutes to see off her 36th-ranked opponent as she made it 15 victories from her past 18 matches.

Czech wildcard Tereza Martincova is also through to the last eight on home soil after battling past French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6).

Martincova is into her fifth quarter-final of the season and will take on number four seed Maria Sakkari, who saw off Jelena Ostapenko 6-4 6-2 earlier on Thursday.

Also through to round three is Elena Rybakina following a hard-fought 6-3 2-6 6-1 win over qualifier Magda Linette, while Jil Teichmann – who shocked former world number one Angelique Kerber in the previous round – advanced in three sets against Alison Riske.

She will face Petra Kvitova for a place in the semi-finals. 

Top-seeded Elise Mertens rolled into the semi-finals at the Silicon Valley Classic with a 6-3 7-6 (10-8) win over Yulia Putintseva on Friday. 

The Belgian already has collected a pair of grand slam doubles titles this year at the Australian Open and Wimbledon and is seeking her seventh career singles crown. 

She will need to get past fourth seed Daria Kasatkina to have a chance. 

The Russian outlasted Magda Linette 6-4 3-6 6-4 in her quarter-final and is seeking her third title of 2021 after a three-year drought between wins. 

The other semi-final will match seventh seed Danielle Collins against qualifier Ana Konjuh.

Collins pulled out a tight 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4) upset of second seed Elena Rybakina to reach the semis in San Jose for the second time. 

The American won her eighth consecutive match after taking the title at Palermo two weeks ago. 

She will meet the only unseeded player remaining, Konjuh, who won the final 10 games of the match to close out Zhang Shuai 3-6 6-2 6-0. 

Top-seeded Elise Mertens pulled out a three-set win to reach the quarter-finals at the Silicon Valley Classic as all four matches went the distance on Thursday.

The Belgian, ranked 17th in the world, prevailed 6-2 4-6 6-4 over Kristina Mladenovic of France in two hours and 40 minutes to advance in San Jose.

She moves on to face the eighth seed, Yulia Putintseva, who rallied past Ajla Tomljanovic 3-6 7-5 6-3 as the Australian blew numerous chances to pull ahead by converting only two of 16 break-point opportunities.

In the bottom half of the draw, second seed Elena Rybakina remained on track with a 2-6 6-0 6-2 victory over American Claire Liu in a rematch of a second-round meeting at Wimbledon.

Rybakina next meets seventh seed Danielle Collins, a 3-6 6-4 6-3 winner over US countrywoman Sloane Stephens.

Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, has slipped to number 67 in the world and was playing in her first tournament since Wimbledon as she prepares for a return to Flushing Meadows.

Camila Giorgi extended her strong run at the Viking International in Eastbourne as she dumped out top seed Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday.

The Italian had already beaten defending champion Karolina Pliskova en route to the last eight and pulled off another upset as she claimed a 7-6 (7-5) 0-6 6-4 win over Sabalenka.

Giorgi's bid for the third WTA Tour title of her career will now continue with a semi-final against Anett Kontaveit on Friday.

The Estonian also needed three sets to book her place, bouncing back from losing the opener to beat Viktorija Golubic 2-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-5.

Daria Kasatkina was unable to build on her win over fourth seed Iga Swiatek in the last round as she missed out on a spot in the semi-finals.

The Russian took the first set against Jelena Ostapenko but failed to build on that success as the Latvian ran out a 1-6 7-5 6-2 winner.

In the final match of the day, Anastasija Sevastova was beaten by Elena Rybakina, who had earned her place in the quarters by beating second seed Elina Svitolina the day before.

World number 61 Sevastova, who eliminated Coco Gauff, won the first set 6-2, but Rybakina fought back to claim the next two 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-5).

Rainy conditions ensured there was no play at this week's other WTA event held in Bad Homburg, Germany, though one player was able to secure passage to the semi-finals.

Sara Sorribes Tormo claimed her place in the next round after Victoria Azarenka, her scheduled opponent, pulled out due to injury.

Second seed Elina Svitolina crashed out of the Viking International in Eastbourne at the last-16 stage on Wednesday with a straight sets defeat to Elena Rybakina.

The world number five lost 6-4 7-6 (7-3) to 21st-ranked Rybakina, whose reward is a meeting with Coco Gauff's conqueror Anastasija Sevastova in the quarter-finals.

Third seed Bianca Andreescu of Canada also lost in straight sets, Anett Kontaveit of Estonia beating her 6-3 6-3.

And it was the same story for fourth seed Iga Swiatek, though she at least took a set as she was beaten by Daria Kasatkina.

It took an impressive rally from Russia's Kasatkina to bounce back from losing the first en route to a 4-6 6-0 6-1 success.

She will now face Jelena Ostapenko, who beat Ons Jabeur 5-7 6-4 6-3.

In fact, top seed Aryna Sabalenka was the only seed to avoid a surprise exit on Wednesday as she cruised through.

The Belarussian, ranked fourth in the world, beat Alison Riske 6-1 6-4 in just over an hour to set up a clash with Camila Giorgi.

Giorgi had earlier followed up a win over defending champion Karolina Pliskova in the last round by beating Shelby Rogers 6-3 4-6 6-2.

There was no such string of shocks at Wednesday's other WTA event, the Bad Homburg Open in Germany, though first and second seeds Petra Kvitova and Victoria Azarenka needed three sets to progress.

Kvitova lost a second-set tie-break as she beat Ann Li 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 to reach the quarters, while Azarenka defeated Alize Cornet 6-4 3-6 7-6 (9-7).

Angelique Kerber, the fourth seed, progressed more smoothly, earning a comfortable 6-0 6-2 win over Russia's Anna Blinkova.

And Nadia Podoroska saw off the challenge of Patricia Maria Tig, winning 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-4.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova fought back to win a pulsating French Open battle with her doubles partner Elena Rybakina and reach an elusive first grand slam semi-final.

A decade after playing in the last eight of a major for the first time at Roland Garros, Pavlyuchenkova finally broke new ground with a hard-fought 6-7 (2-7) 6-2 9-7 victory on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old had lost six grand slam singles quarter-finals but the 31st seed will do battle with surprise package Tamara Zidansek for a place in the championship match in Paris.

Rybakina beat the great Serena Williams to reach the last eight and gave another demonstration of her huge promise, but made 43 unforced errors in an entertaining contest that took two hours and 33 minutes to settle on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

After Kazakh Rybakina claimed the first break for a 3-1 first-set lead with clean striking off both wings, Pavlyuchenkova took a more aggressive approach and that paid off when she got back on serve at 4-3.

Rybakina, the 21st seed, took that setback in her stride, storming into a 5-0 lead after a tactical first-set battle was taken to a tie-break, which ended with Pavlyuchenkova putting a backhand into the net.

Pavlyuchenkova appeared to have missed out on a fourth chance to break in a long sixth game of the second set when she slipped, but looked up while she was sitting on the clay to discover Rybakina had made a mess of a simple smash.

The 29-year-old broke again to wrap up the set and maintained her momentum in the decider, charging into a 2-0 lead - with her backhand firing.

They were back on serve at 4-4 with the nerves jangling following four breaks in five games, both players looking understandably tense but still producing some high-quality tennis.

It was Pavlyuchenkova who claimed the decisive fifth break of a long final set to advance, earning a match point with a rasping forehand winner before her young opponent double-faulted.

Data Slam: A half-century to remember for Pavlyuchenkova

Pavlyuchenkova is making her 50th grand slam main draw appearance and she has marked it with her best run. More proof that persistence pays off.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Pavlyuchenkova – 44/28
Rybakina – 46/43

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Pavlyuchenkova – 5/2
Rybakina – 5/6

BREAK POINTS WON

Pavlyuchenkova– 6/17
Rybakina – 3/7

Serena Williams crashed out of the French Open in the fourth round as 21st seed Elena Rybakina sealed a stunning 6-3 7-5 victory on Sunday.

Rybakina, representing Kazakhstan, had not previously been past the second round at Roland Garros but she is enjoying a strong run this fortnight and showed no nerves against her illustrious opponent, hitting a series of impressive winners that the 39-year-old Williams could not match.

After breaking back and then moving 5-4 ahead in the second set, it seemed 23-time grand slam champion Williams might take the match to a decider, but Rybakina reeled off the next three games to seal the biggest win of her career and set up a quarter-final clash against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. 

Rybakina started in a confident mood, winning her first two service games without dropping a point.

Williams came under intense pressure on her second service game, with Rybakina breaking and opening up a 3-1 lead when the American sent a backhand long.

Williams broke back in the seventh game of the match, but she squandered the opportunity to pull level when Rybakina broke again in the next game.

A nervy Rybakina needed four set points to win the opener 6-3, sealing it in 36 minutes when Williams flashed a cross-court backhand long.

Williams found herself in more trouble at the start of the second set, Rybakina comfortably breaking to move 1-0 up, but the three-time Roland Garros champion restored parity in the next game with four consecutive winners.

Rybakina missed a golden opportunity to set up a break point in the fifth match of the second set, sending a backhand long with Williams out of position, the American surviving to serve out the game and move 3-2 up.

The 21-year-old won the next game with an ace, setting the stage for her to break Williams and move 4-3 ahead.

Williams roared back, though, winning the next two games to leave Rybakina serving to stay in the set.

Not only did she do that, but she won the next two games as well to put the seal on a memorable victory that took one hour and 19 minutes.

DATA SLAM: RYBAKINA PUNISHES SLOPPY WILLIAMS

Williams looked well off the pace against an opponent who certainly made the most of her first appearance in the fourth round of a grand slam tournament. Williams won just 59 per cent of the points from her first serve, compared to Rybakina's 69 per cent, while the Russian-born player won 86 per cent of points at the net compared to Williams' 50 per cent.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Williams – 15/19
Rybakina – 21/13

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Williams – 2/1
Rybakina – 4/4

BREAK POINTS WON

Williams – 3/5
Rybakina – 5/7