Andreescu, Martic, Collins move into Phillip Island Trophy quarters

After a number of upsets over the first two rounds of the Phillip Island Trophy, the favorites have taken charge of the draw again. No.2 seed Bianca Andreescu, No.4 seed Petra Martic and No.8 seed Danielle Collins all booked their places in the quarterfinals on Tuesday without dropping a set.

Andreescu had endured a late-night longueur on Monday in her opener, battling birds overhead, bugs underfoot and Madison Brengle across the net before surviving 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3. Seagulls frequently swooped low into the 1573 Arena, prompting Brengle to exclaim at one point: "It's like a Hitchcock thing!"

There were fewer tests for the Canadian in the third round, though, as World No.83 Zarina Diyas was forced to retire due to a knee injury after losing the first set 6-1.

Andreescu will play the unseeded Irina-Camelia Begu in the last eight after the Romanian pulled off Tuesday's biggest upset, defeating No.5 seed Wang Qiang 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-1. Elsewhere, Martic reached her first quarterfinal since Palermo last August with a 6-1, 6-3 win over wildcard Kimberly Birrell, and Collins moved past Misaki Doi 6-4, 6-2 to book her second quarterfinal spot of this year's Australian swing.

Two local players who had beaten the odds in second-round upsets had their fairytale runs halted in the last 16. Unranked wildcard Olivia Gadecki, No.1 seed Sofia Kenin's conqueror, fell 7-5, 6-3 to No.16 seed Rebecca Peterson; and lucky loser Gabriella Da Silva Fick, who had saved two match points to stun Aliaksandra Sasnovich, was routed 6-1, 6-1 by No.13 seed Marie Bouzkova.

Tuesday's closest match was an all-Russian derby. Former World No.10 Daria Kasatkina may be ranked World No.75 now and unseeded in the draw, but her on-paper upset of No.7 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 in fact tightened her grip on the pair's head-to-head. Kasatkina now leads the series 3-1, having won each of their past three meetings.