Top seeds tumble out of Brasil Cup
The Brasil Cup's top two seeds Tatjana Maria and Ajla Tomljanovic were eliminated in the second round in Wednesday's play.
Top seed Tatjana Maria and Ajla Tomljanovic crashed out of the WTA Brasil Tennis Cup on Wednesday, defeated by Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor and Tereza Martincova respectively.
Maria has been on the comeback trail this year after the birth of her daughter in December 2013, and follows up a first-round elimination in Bastad a fortnight ago with another early exit in Florianopolis, going down 6-3 6-1 to Spain's Torro-Flor.
Second seed Tomljanovic has not made it past the second round of any tournament since May in Strasbourg and was outplayed in two sets to one as Martincova sealed a 6-1 4-6 6-1 success.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands is Martincova's opponent in the quarter-final after beating Ana Bogdan in straight sets, while Torro-Flor will tackle Anastasija Sevastova in the last eight.
The high-ranked casualties may open the door for Germany's Annika Beck to seal a second career title, and she advanced thanks to a composed 6-1 6-2 triumph over France's Alize Lim.
Next up for Beck is home talent Gabriela Ce, who beat eighth seed Paula Kania 6-2 7-6 (9-7).
The home fans will have most of their hopes behind Teliana Pereira, the fourth seed, and she is a quarter-finalist thanks to a 6-4 6-1 win over Risa Ozaki. Seventh seed Laura Siegemund awaits after her 6-3 6-1 win over Elitsa Kostova.