Venus Williams eases into quarterfinals of Hong Kong Open

Like Williams, Kerber came good at the key moments as she made light work of Nara, the Japanese ultimately punished for a failure to convert seven break points.

“I had only seen Williams before on TV”, Wang said through a translator.

Venus Williams powered into the quarterfinals of the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open, where she’ll face a player who’s given her sister all kinds of trouble: Alizé Cornet.

Stosur, seeded fifth, will play Heather Watson after the Briton beat Taiwan’s Lee Ya-hsuan 6-0, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4.

HONG KONG (AP) – Jelena Jankovic and Samantha Stosur advanced to the quarterfinals of the Hong Kong Open on Wednesday, both winning in straight sets.

“I think she’ll have developed a lot of rhythm from having played a lot of balls”. “I’m in the next round”, said Williams of the match against Wang.

Elsewhere, Caroline Garcia became the second Frenchwoman to make the last eight as she strolled to a 6-0, 6-2 win over Russia’s Anastasiya Komardina.

The second seed prevailed 6-1, 6-1 in less than an hour, but sixth seed Teliana Pereira of Brazil went out to unseeded Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, who won 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.

Williams, 35, is fighting for a place in the eight-player WTA Finals in Singapore later this month with Hong Kong her last chance to get the points she needs. “The first match is always very tough, to feel the conditions, the court”.

She is now 11th in the Road to Singapore rankings.