QUÉBEC CITY, September 14, 2017

Francoise Abanda delighted the home crowd at the National Bank Cup presented by IGA by reaching her first WTA quarterfinal with a 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 win over No.5 seed Varvara Lepchenko from the United States.

The 20-year-old from Montréal won 71 per cent of her first service points and broke serve three times to prevail after two hours and 15 minutes. The result, which is Abanda’s first quarterfinal above ITF Circuit $60,000 level, will see her face third seed Timea Babos of Hungary  on Thursday for a spot in the stage of the final four.

The tournament’s No. 4 Tatjana Maria had no such struggles against US-American Grace Min, as the 30-year-old German fired nine aces and broke serve five times in a 6-1, 6-1 second round victory, which only lasted 52 minutes. Next up for Maria will be the winner of the encounter between Viktorija Golubic and Saschia Vickery.

US-American qualifier Caroline Dolehide also advanced to the quarterfinals benefiting from a walkover, as defending champion Océane Dodin withdrew from the match due to dizziness.