Harriet Dart continued to carry British hopes at the Rothesay Birmingham Classic as she beat Anhelina Kalinina for a second successive week to make the quarter-finals.
Dart was awarded a Wimbledon wild card earlier in the day and celebrated in style by earning a 6-3 3-6 6-1 victory over the Ukrainian fifth seed.
The British number four, who has been playing with tonsillitis, beat Kalinina in Nottingham last week on her way to the quarter-finals and this victory books her second successive last-eight spot.
She will face fourth seed Anastasia Potapova or Caty McNally in the last eight on Friday as she continues her impressive build-up for SW19, where she is now guaranteed a spot in the main draw.
“I was always expecting a battle, I played great last week and I knew she would raise her level. The courts are a little bit quicker here so I just had to adjust a little bit more,” she said in her on-court interview.
“I am just really pleased to be through.
“I am kind of used it, I played quite a lot of long matches, not out of choice, but it happens. I always love coming back to Birmingham, it is pretty awesome.
“I love playing on grass and I love playing in front of the home fans and I love these couple of weeks the most for sure.”
The world number 134, who beat fellow Brit Jodie Burrage in the first round, moved into a 3-0 lead but only after saving seven break points during her first two service games.
It took Kalinina 23 minutes to get off the mark but there was no stopping Dart who took the opening set 6-3.
A much closer second set occurred before Kalinina sensed her opportunity in the sixth service game to move 4-2 ahead and force a decider.
But Dart regrouped and raced clear in the deciding set, having match points at 5-0.
Kalinina did make her serve it out, but that proved no problem for the Brit, much to the delight of the Edgbaston Priory crowd.
Earlier in the day, Linda Fruhvirtova progressed into the quarter-finals after the highly-rated teenager defeated Bernarda Pera 6-1 7-6 (3).
China’s Zhu Lin, who beat Katie Boulter on day one, also continued her fine tournament with victory over third seed Magda Linette by a 6-3 6-0 score.
Top seed Barbora Krejcikova started her time in Birmingham with a 6-3 6-3 win over Cristina Bucsa in the first round.
Nadal unsure of future involvements after Laver Cup withdrawal
Rafael Nadal says he cannot commit himself to future tournaments after his withdrawal from the Laver Cup.
Nadal shared news on Thursday that he would not make an appearance at the annual event in Berlin, stating that it would not be in the best interests of Team Europe if he were to participate.
The Spaniard was last in action playing doubles at the Paris Olympics with Carlos Alcaraz, and while he says he is in a good space mentally, he was not able to confirm when he would next make a professional appearance on a tennis court.
He said: "Mentally, I’m good, no problems. I'm at home enjoying other things, training as much as I can every day.
"No drama, obviously these are decisions [the Laver Cup withdrawal] that are being made, and this was a possibility - it's been a while without competing. There will be someone else who can do better.
"Right now I’m not in a position to put myself down for anything.
"I said [I would play] until the Olympics and then we would see, and I'm in that period of rest."
Nadal has endured a difficult 2024 so far, playing just 21 competitive singles matches with a record of 13-8.
He has only one grand slam victory to his name this year, beating Jack Draper in the Australian Open, but he lost in the first round of the French Open to eventual finalist Alexander Zverev.
Alcaraz sends Spain into Davis Cup last eight
Carlos Alcaraz has led Spain to the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup Finals after a straight-sets win over Ugo Humbert.
The 21-year-old needed just one hour and 21 minutes to cruise through with a 6-3 6-3 victory, hitting 21 winners to his opponent's 14 as he backed up Roberto Bautista's win earlier on.
Bautista had to come from behind to edge past Arthur Fils, beating him 2-6 7-5 6-3, and converting 40% of his break points, bettering the Frenchman's 27%.
Spain are through in Group B, but elsewhere in Group D, US Open semi-finalist Jack Draper's return was unable to inspire Great Britain to victory.
Dan Evans was beaten by Tomas Martin Etcheverry earlier on Friday before Draper's first match since New York ended in a straight-sets 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 defeat to Francisco Cerundolo.
Despite making fewer unforced errors than the Argentinian (23 to 39), the British number one struggled to find an edge, though Evans and Neal Skupski claimed a consolation win in the doubles to make it 2-1.
They sit second in the group, missing the chance to qualify for the last eight, and now needing a win against Canada, who have been in fine form so far.
Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov sweep aside Finland at Davis Cup
Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov moved Canada to the brink of qualification in the Davis Cup Finals group stage, comfortably dispatching Finland in Manchester.
Shapovalov needed just an hour and 13 minutes to beat Eero Vasa 7-6 (7-2) 6-2, backing up his win against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo on Tuesday.
The Canadian served five aces to his opponents' three, producing three love games in the final set to get his nation off to a flying start.
Auger-Aliassime followed up Shapovalov's victory with another straight sets win, this time over Otto Virtanen, emerging a 6-2 6-3 victor.
The world number 21 was dominant on serve throughout his 73-minute triumph, saving all three break points he faced and winning 86% of his first-serve points.
Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov then prevailed in the doubles against Harri Heliovaara and Virtanen in another straight sets win, putting them top of Group D without dropping a set against their opponents.
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