Italian top seed Sara Errani can avenge her shock Australian Open first round defeat to Carla Suarez Navarro when she tackles the Spaniard in the Paris Open quarter-finals on Friday.
Errani reached the last eight in the French capital without breaking sweat when Slovak opponent Magdalena Rybarikova retired with a viral illness when trailing 4-0 in the first set on Thursday.
“I didn’t know my opponent was sick, but I hope she recovers soon,” Errani said.
“The next match is going to be interesting because I know Carla very well and she beat me at the Australian Open. I like this surface and I just want to keep playing my game, and we will see how it goes tomorrow.”
Suarez Navarro beat eighth-seeded Czech Klara Zakopalova 6-4 6-3.
Dutch lucky loser Kiki Bertens blasted five aces en route to a 7-5 6-4 win over fourth-seeded Slovak Dominika Cibulkova as the 21-year-old reached her first quarter-final.
Sixth-seeded Czech Lucie Safarova, twice a runner-up in Paris, beat France’s Alize Cornet 6-2 4-6 6-2 and faces Bertens for a semi-final spot.
French wildcard Kristina Mladenovic took out Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 6-4 6-4.