German Angelique Kerber advanced to the last 16 of the Italian Open by winning against Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 7-6 (4) at the Foro Italico in Roma on Saturday.
Kerber, ranked No 331, will face Pole Iga Swiatek, the top seed, next.
Ahead of her victory, the 36-year-old German beat American Lauren Davis (6-1, 6-0) and Russian Veronika Kudermetova, the No 17 seed (6-3, 6-0).
Sasnovich, ranked No 113, defeated Slovak Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (6-2, 7-6 (6)) and Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, the No 14 seed (6-0, 6-1) earlier in the tournament.
Roma WTA 1000, other 32 results (Foro Italico, clay, USD 5.509.771, most recent results first):
- Dayana Yastremska vs. Aryna Sabalenka
- Elina Svitolina vs. Anna Kalinskaya
- Sara Sorribes Tormo vs. Jelena Ostapenko
- Sofia Kenin vs. Rebecca Sramkova
- Elise Mertens vs. Irina-Camelia Begu
- Danielle Collins vs. Caroline Garcia
- Victoria Azarenka vs. Mayar Sherif
- Maria Sakkari vs. Anhelina Kalinina
- Coco Gauff vs. Jaqueline Cristian
- Sorana Cirstea vs. Marketa Vondrousova
- Linda Noskova vs. Qinwen Zheng
- Beatriz Haddad Maia vs. Madison Keys
- Daria Kasatkina vs. Naomi Osaka: saturday
- Paula Badosa beat Diana Shnaider: 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
- Iga Swiatek beat Yulia Putintseva: 6-3, 6-4
