Karolina Pliskova beat Estonian Anett Kontaveit 6-3 7-5 to set up a Rogers Cup quarter-final showdown with Canadian Bianca Andreescu and keep alive her hopes of reclaiming the world No.1 ranking.
The Czech third seed showed no ill-effects from Wednesday’s gruelling two-hour clash with American qualifier Alison Riske as she hit 24 winners against 16th-seeded Kontaveit in a match lasting 78 minutes.
Pliskova, playing her first hardcourt tournament since reaching the Miami final in March, said she felt sore during her match against Kontaveit but is confident her game is heading in the right direction ahead of the looming US Open.
“Yesterday was not perfect, but it was not bad for first match on hard court,” Pliskova said.
“Today much better. So let’s see what’s tomorrow.”
Pliskova, who has a chance to take over top spot from Australia’s Ashleigh Barty in the rankings if she reaches the Toronto semi-finals, will face home favourite Andreescu, who upset Dutch fifth seed Kiki Bertens 6-1 7-6(7) 6-4.
Ukrainian sixth seed Elina Svitolina, who won here in 2017, also reached the quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-4 win over Swiss Belinda Bencic to set up a meeting with Sofia Kenin.
American Kenin, who stunned world number one Ash Barty in the second round, reached the last eight with a 6-2 6-2 win over Ukrainian teenager Dayana Yastremska.
Three-times champion Serena Williams, who looked sharp on Wednesday in her first match since losing to Simona Halep in last month’s Wimbledon final, will kick off the evening session against Russian qualifier Ekaterina Alexandrova.
A win for eighth-seeded Williams would set up a possible rematch of last year’s controversial US Open final against Japanese second seed Naomi Osaka, who caps the day’s action against Polish qualifier Iga Swiatek.
By reaching the third round, Osaka is in position to take over as world number one. If Osaka reaches the Toronto quarters or semis then Pliskova would have to reach the final to stay in contention for top spot.