Czech Krejcikova swats aside Stephens to book quarter-final spot

PARIS (REUTERS): Big-hitting Czech Barbora Krejcikova powered past former French Open finalist Sloane Stephens 6-2, 6-0 in a clash of unseeded players to reach the quarter-finals on Monday.

The 33rd-ranked Krejcikova, who won the 2018 doubles title at Roland Garros with Katerina Siniakova, has not lost since a maiden title-winning run in Strasbourg and dominated the 2017 US Open winner on a sun-bathed Suzanne Lenglen court.

Former World number three Stephens, who reached the final in Paris in 2018, did not have any answer to Krejcikova's powerful but effortless stroke-making in their first meeting and did not help her cause by committing 26 unforced errors.

Krejcikova was the third Czech opponent for Stephens in a row and the American was forced to hurry her shots in the face of clean hitting from her opponent.