HOBART, Australia - The quarterfinal line-up was decided at the Moorilla Hobart International on Wednesday, with the four remaining second round matches completed. Just two of the eight seeds, No.3 Kateryna Bondarenko and No.6 Aleksandra Wozniak failed to make the cut.
Canada's Wozniak was first to go, falling to Belgian qualifier Kirsten Flipkens, a former Wimbledon and US Open junior champion who has been hampered by back problems in the senior ranks. Flipkens, who last year recorded her first Top 100 season finish and is currently ranked No.80, has won five matches at the Domain Tennis Centre this week - including a straight sets defeat of defending champion Petra Kvitova in the final round of qualifying.
"I was hoping to have two or three matches going into the Australian Open, so I'm really satisfied," said Flipkens, who turned 24 on Sunday. "I'm seeing it match by match, today I was the underdog and she was sixth seeded so it's really good for my confidence."
Wildcard and local favorite Alicia Molik pushed fifth seed Carla Suárez Navarro for much of their match but couldn't quite close it out. In the end it was her Spanish opponent who took charge in the decider to record a 76(3) 36 63 win, but the Australian comeback queen was philosophical.
"It's probably the best preparation I could ask for," she said. "I did the right thing for two hours, it was only probably five or six minutes at the end of the match that I didn't quite do the right thing, so that's a pretty good sign."
In the final match of the day session, Sara Errani defeated Bondarenko in straight sets, 76(8) 64. In the quarterfinals the dogged Italian faces Flipkens. Second-seeded Shahar Peer, who beat Jelena Dokic 62 62 in Wednesday's evening session, plays Suárez Navarro.
The remaining quarterfinalists booked their spots on Tuesday. Top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues plays eighth-seeded Gisela Dulko, while No.4 seed Alona Bondarenko meets seventh-seed Zheng Jie.













