Mladenovic, Goerges reach quarterfinals in St. Petersburg

Returning to the court for the first time since her first-round loss to Ana Bogdan at the Australian Open, the fourth-seeded Mladenovic broke Cibulkova's serve four times.

Kristina Mladenovic of France returns the ball to Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia during the St. Petersburg Women's Trophy-2018 tennis tournament match in St.Petersburg. | AP

ST. PETERSBURG: Kristina Mladenovic advanced to the quarterfinals of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy on Thursday by beating Dominika Cibulkova 6-4, 6-4.

Returning to the court for the first time since her first-round loss to Ana Bogdan at the Australian Open, the fourth-seeded Mladenovic broke Cibulkova's serve four times.

Mladenovic will next play either Katerina Siniakova or Ekaterina Makarova in the quarterfinals.

Fifth-seeded Julia Goerges also advanced, beating Italian veteran Roberta Vinci 7-5, 6-0.

Goerges will next face 18-year-old Russian qualifier Elena Rybakina, who has already eliminated Timea Bacsinszky and Caroline Garcia.