Logo

MELBOURNE (AFP) – Spanish giantkiller Carla Suarez Navarro continued her dream debut at the Australian Open Monday, reaching the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-2 win over 21st seed Anabel Medina Garrigues.

Suarez Navarro, who dumped Venus Williams from the tournament in the second round, encountered little trouble dispatching fellow Spaniard Medina Garrigues in 73 minutes.

The unseeded 20-year-old's appearance in the last eight will equal her previous best performance at a Grand Slam at the French Open last year.

She will meet either Russian fourth seed Elena Dementieva or Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova, seeded 18, in the quarter-finals.

Suarez Navarro's single-handed backhand drew comparisons with Justine Henin after her match against Williams and she used it to great effect as she broke Medina Garrigues twice in each set.

Combining her backhand with a powerful forehand, Suarez Navarro hit 20 winners to Medina Garrigues' seven in the match.

Medina Garrigues broke back once in the first set but her opponent was soon up 5-2 and served out the set after 39 minutes.

The 26-year-old could not keep up in the second as Suarez Navarro attacked her second serve, yelling at herself in Spanish as she tried to find a way into the match.

But her younger compatriot broke her in the fifth and seventh games, confidently rushing to the net on match point to send a forehand beyond Medina Garrigues's reach and claim victory.