Katie Boulter breezed into the quarter-finals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open with a straight-sets victory over Kyoka Okamura in Tokyo.
The world No 33 needed just 69 minutes to claim a dominant 6-1 6-2 success and set up a last-eight meeting with unseeded Canadian Bianca Andreescu.
Boutler immediately broke Okamura in the opening game and also impressed on serve during a dominant opening set, where she took advantage of three break points to claim the fifth and build up a 4-1 advantage.
The ninth seed closed out the opening set inside 28 minutes and grabbed the advantage in the second by breaking Okamura in the sixth game to move into a 4-2 lead, with the Brit holding serve in the next before breaking again to complete an impressive win.
“I feel like I’m playing some good tennis and just trying to get through these matches,” Boulter said.
Boulter – who beat Priscilla Hon in the previous round – looked to set to face a rematch against Beatriz Haddad Maia, who beat her at the Ningbo Open last week, but the Brazilian retired in the opening set of her last-16 tie and allowed Andreescu to progress to the last eight.
“I mean, she [Andreescu] is obviously an incredible fighter,” Boulter added. “She’s won a Grand Slam. She’s playing some pretty damn good tennis.
“It’s going to be a battle out there and I’m excited. It’s another opportunity. It’s on the free swing at the end of the year and I’ve got nothing to lose.”
Third seed Daria Kasatkina came back from a set down to beat American McCartney Kessler, while former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin needed a final-set tie-break to see off Clara Tauson.
The winner of Kastakina’s quarter-final with Kenin on Friday will then face Boulter or Andreescu in the semi-finals, with the final of the WTA 500 then taking place on Sunday and live on Sky Sports Tennis.
What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis?
- Erste Bank Open, Vienna – ATP 500 (October 21-27)
- Swiss Indoors, Basel – ATP 500 (October 21-27)
- Guangzhou Open, China – WTA 250 (October 21-27)
- Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis, Tokyo – WTA 500 (October 21-27)
- Hong Kong Tennis Open – WTA 250 (October 28 – November 3)
- Jiangxi Open – WTA 250 (October 28 – November 3)
- Merida Open Akron – WTA 250 (October 28 – November 3)
- Rolex Paris Masters – ATP 1000 (October 28 – November 3)
Sky Sports shows live coverage of ATP and WTA Tennis tournaments throughout the year. Get instant access to live tennis and more sports with NOW.