LIMOGES, France – No.1 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova moved through to the quarterfinals of the Open BLS de Limoges with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over wildcard Océane Dodin.
The WTA World No.42 took just 69 minutes to come out on top in the second-round encounter.
Alexandrova started quickly, moving into a 3-0 lead after saving a couple of break points in the opening game. Dodin, the WTA World No.167, had three more chances to the break to get back to 3-2 but these were passed up and the set swiftly slipped away from her.
Just as the first set was decided by a single break, so too was the second. Again it arrived early and again it favored the higher-ranked player, who moved ahead 2-1 after the opening two games had gone with service.
Dodin fought hard to retain her interest in her home event, carving out two break points in both the eighth and 10th games, but Alexandrova shut her down on both occasions.
Ana Bogdan will be up next for the top seed after the Romanian defeated No.8 seed Bernarda Pera, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 in a match that lasted close to two-and-a-quarter hours.
It set the trend of a day of upsets, too, with Aliaksandra Sasnovich getting the better of No.6 seed Anna Blinkova, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.
Meanwhile, Sara Sorribes Tormo and Pauline Parmentier, who had upset Alison Van Uytvanck and Caroline Garcia, the No.3 and 2 seeds respectively, in the first round, both tumbled out.
Sorana Cirstea got the better of the Spaniard, 6-3, 6-3, while Greetje Minnen was too good for the Frenchwoman, winning through, 6-3, 7-5.
