Pliskova downs Kontaveit to advance to quarterfinals at Rogers Cup

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Pliskova, who can reclaim the top spot on the WTA rankings with a solid run at the Premier 5 event this week, will face the winner between Canadian Bianca Andreescu and No. 5-seed Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands in the quarterfinals.

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Pliskova reached the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup the last time it was in Toronto in 2017, during her seven-week run as the top-ranked player in the world.

Andreescu, one of three teenagers playing in third-round singles matches on the day at Aviva Centre, was to follow the Pliskova-Kontaveit match on centre court.

The 19-year-old Andreescu had never played Bertens before Thursday. But Andreescu entered the match with a 4-0 record against top-10 ranked opponents this year — including her Indian Wells final win over then-No. 8 Angelique Kerber in March for her first WTA title.

Andreescu has played nearly five hours of tennis over the first two days of the WTA Premier 5 tournament in Toronto. She needed three sets to defeat Daria Kasatkina on Wednesday night, and three against fellow Canadian Eugenie Bouchard in the first round Monday.

The Mississauga, Ont., teen looked to be out of the tournament on Wednesday — facing a 5-3 deficit in the third set of her late afternoon match against Kasatkina — but rallied back by winning four straight games to advance to the third round.

In other early play Thursday, American Sofia Kenin continued her stellar run at the tournament with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Ukrainian teenager Dayana Yastremska.

Kenin, ranked No. 29, had knocked off the top-ranked Ashleigh Barty on Tuesday to reach the third round. She will play the winner between Belinda Bencic and Elina Svitolina, both former Rogers Cup champions, in the quarterfinals.

Wimbledon champion Simona Halep of Romania played Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia later Thursday. Halep, who won the 2018 Rogers Cup title in Montreal, needed three sets and a tiebreak to oust 76th-ranked American Jennifer Brady in the second round.

No. 2 Naomi Osaka of Japan was slated for the late match against qualifier Iga Swiatek. Swiatek upset former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in three sets Wednesday night.

Also Thursday, 2017 Rogers Cup champ Elina Svitolina of Ukraine played 2015 champion Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, American star Serena Williams took on Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko played qualifier Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic.

Melissa Couto, The Canadian Press