THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PATTAYA, Thailand — Eighth-seeded Vania King advanced to the quarter-finals of the Pattaya Open by beating Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 6-1, 6-3 Thursday.
The American played well from the baseline to beat her friend and reach the quarter-finals for the first time since last September in Seoul.
"I didn’t play many international events after Seoul," King said. "I spent most of my off-season trying to recover fully and try not to get injuries which was something I was struggling in the past few years."
King will next play defending champion Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, who beat Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-3, 6-2 in a match that was briefly suspended by light rain before the end of the first set.
Sania Mirza also advanced to the quarter-finals by beating Anne Keothavong of Britain 6-4, 7-5. Mirza, who lost the 2009 final to Vera Zvonareva, will play Taiwanese qualifier Hsieh Su-wei, who defeated Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm 7-5, 6-0.