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Osaka had a hard-fought three-set win over Sara
Sorribes Tormo in the previous round but had a smoother match
against Sasnovich, who she had brushed past 6-0 6-0 on route to
her U.S. Open triumph last year.
The Belarusian showed a little more resistance this time and
Osaka was forced to save two break points on her way to taking
the first set and comfortably saw out the second to set up a
meeting with unseeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.
"I think I played well today. But I knew that I had to because
I've played her twice before already and it was on hard court
and then I didn't know what to expect today so I tried to stay
as focused as I could," Osaka told reporters.
"I'm in a really good place right now. I feel like I'm having
fun playing tennis again which is always a good thing and I
always play well if I have that mentality."
Kvitova, Madrid champion in 2018, beat France's Caroline Garcia
6-3 6-3 to set up a re-match of last year's final with Kiki
Bertens in the quarter-final.
Halep, champion in 2016 and 2017, will meet Ashleigh Barty of
Australia after thrashing Viktoria Kuzmova 6-0 6-0, losing only
12 points in the entire match which she described as her
best-ever performance.
"I think it was the best match that I have ever had. I remember
once I won 6-0 6-0 in 2016 in Bucharest, the final but it's the
best match and I'm happy with the way I played," the Romanian
said.
Sloane Stephens beat Zheng Saisai of China 3-6 6-3 6-2 and will
meet Petra Martic, who earned a second walkover in a row when
her compatriot Donna Vekic retired in the third set of their
match. Martic was leading 3-0 in the third, after losing the
first set 4-6 and winning the second 6-3.
(Reporting by Richard Martin; Editing by Toby Davis)
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