Cirstea stuns Karolina Pliskova in Beijing

• Halep dumps despairing Sharapova out of Beijing

 AFP: Former number one and fourth seed Karolina Pliskova became the latest high-profile casualty at the China Open on Thursday, going out in the third round to unseeded Sorana Cirstea.

Cirstea follows fellow Romanian Simona Halep into the quarter-finals after the second seed sent Maria Sharapova packing on Wednesday.

Cirstea, ranked 44 in the world, stunned the Czech Pliskova 6-1, 7-5 on Beijing’s outdoor hard courts to surge into the last eight.

She will play Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, the Roland Garros champion, after China’s top player Peng Shuai retired with a knee injury at 3-0 down in the first set. World number one Garbine Muguruza and reigning champion Agnieszka Radwanska are both out to leave world number two Halep the favourite in the Chinese capital.