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No. 30 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova posted a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-2 win Monday over former champion Angelique Kerber of Germany to advance to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

Pavlyuchenkova booked her third appearance in the quarters in the last four years after recording 71 winners against 36 unforced errors to dispatch the 2016 Australian Open champion in two hours and 37 minutes.

With the defeat of Kerber by @NastiaPav, we’ll crown a new women’s champion at #AO2020 👀

Here are 5 things we learned on Day 8 ➡ https://t.co/CtUFSPuFxm #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/h2U3Qwbd4v

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 27, 2020

The 28-year-old Russian enjoyed a brief laugh after being asked in her post-match interview if she had a tough outing versus No. 17 Kerber, against whom she is now 8-7 in competitive matches.

“You think so?” Pavlyuchenkova said with a chuckle. “It was extremely tough. In my head I lost it couple of times during the match. So I am really happy that I am standing here right now.”

Pavlyuchenkova dropped the first set after building a 5-2 lead. She was also up 3-0 in the tiebreaker.

The second set nearly followed suit as Kerber saved three set points to force a tiebreaker, however Pavlyuchenkova broke Kerber’s first two serves to gain a 4-0 advantage.

Muguruza continues dominating form

Pavlyuchenkova recorded her fourth ace to finish off the match and set up an encounter with two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza of Spain, who notched a 6-3, 6-3 victory over ninth-seeded Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands earlier on Monday.

Muguruza struck 19 winners and six aces to record the win in just 68 minutes.

“I feel like she’s a very solid player, has a big serve. She’s physically very strong. I was expecting that it’s going to be a tough match because every time we played, it has been like this. I was ready for it,” the 26-year-old Muguruza said after the match. “I played my game, aggressive game. Right away, I felt it was working.

“I remember that she beat me, that’s for sure. I think I’m a different player now. Completely different. We both like the baseline. I found a way to disturb her game.”

Is this the best quarterfinal clash of #AO2020?

It’s Barty v Kvitova 🍿

This is Battle Thoughts presented by Canadian Club. #AusOpen #canadianclub @CanadianClubAus pic.twitter.com/UWHrq5hIXm

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 27, 2020

Also on Monday, fourth-seeded Romanian Simona Halep posted a 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 16 Elise Mertens of Belgium and 28th-seeded Estonian Anett Kontaveit recorded a 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-5 win over Iga Swiatek of Poland.

–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)