The quarterfinals are about to begin in Brisbane

Quarterfinals – 6th January (Times in GMT)

00:30 – Marion Bartoli v Barbora Zahiava Strycova

02:00 – Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Lucie Safarova

02:00 – Dominika Cibulkova v Petra Kvitova

10:30 – Jarmila Groth v Andrea Petkovic

The quarterfinals in Brisbane are about to get underway, and today’s action should be gripping.

Marion Bartoli and Barbora Zahiava Strycova will play the day’s first tie at the Pat Rafter Arena. Bartoli is the fourth seed here and stands out as the favourite. Despite dropping the second set in her second round match against Iveta Benesova, Bartoli has rarely looked troubled here. Strycova is yet to drop a set, having defeated qualifier Anna Tatishvili and wildcard Sally Peers in rounds one and two respectively.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Safarova will then meet on Court 1. Pavluchenkova is the fifth seed this week, but wont necessarily breeze through her match against the unseeded Safarova. Safarova has needed three sets to win each of her last two matches, though her most recent victory was against second seed Shahar Peer.

Dominika Cibulkova and Petra Kvitova will meet at the same time as the above match, albeit on Court 2. Cibulkova has yet to drop a set this week, but can’t take anything for granted in the quarters. Kvitova defeated third seed Nadia Petrova in round one, and then recovered from an early blip to beat lucky loser Ksenia Pervak in round two.

In the final match of the day, Jarmila Groth is up against Andrea Petkovic. This match will be played in the Pat Rafter Arena, and should prove to be an exciting one. Groth managed to beat top seed Sam Stosur in round one, whilst Petkovic has only lost four games over the space of her first two matches.