Wozniacki, Halep through as Pliskova crashes out
Top seeds Caroline Wozniacki and Simona Halep reached the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open, but the day was not without its shocks as defending champion Karolina Pliskova was dumped out.
Australian Open champion Wozniacki - a finalist here last year - and Halep got the better of Monica Niculescu and Anastasija Sevastova, respectively, while18 year-old CiCi Bellis earned an unlikely win over Pliskova in straight sets.
The tournament's other seeded players were not so easily defeated, however, with Garbine Muguruza, Caroline Garcia and Julia Goerges avoiding upsets to join Wozniacki and Halep in the last eight.
Wozniacki and Halep are on opposite sides of the draw and they remain on course for a rematch of last month's Australian Open final after a pair of last-16 wins.
It looked at once stage as though Wozniacki could be in trouble, however, blowing a 4-1 lead in the first set to trail 5-4.
The world number one was required to break Niculescu as she served for the set, but she then made sure there would be no jitters later in the match and dispatched of the Romanian.
Halep's triumph was much more straightforward, although she too faced a tricky opponent in Sevastova and had to show her class to emerge 6-4 6-3.
