Caroline Wozniacki ended Dominika Cibulkova's hopes of defending her Kremlin Cup title with a quarter-final victory in Moscow.
Wozniacki wasted a couple of chances to end the match earlier and she was also aided by an ankle injury Cibulkova suffered in going down 6-2 6-7 6-1.
The former world number one looked in imperious form in the opening set, breaking Cibulkova's serve on a couple of occasions to take the upper hand.
She served for the match at 5-4 and 6-5 up in the second set but had her serve broken by the Slovakian player on both occasions and Cibulkova took the resulting tie-break with ease.
Wozniacki led 2-1 in the decider when Cibulkova, already sporting a bandage on her hip, needed treatment on an ankle injury, and she failed to win another game after the time-out to exit the tournament in disappointing fashion.
"It was a very good match today as both of us played very well," Wozniacki said.
"The difference at the end was that I just could keep my highest level up to the end and I managed to win most of the important points especially at the beginning of the third set."
She now faces Sweden's Sofia Arvidsson after her 6-3 6-3 win over seventh seed Maria Kirilenko, who was the last Russian left in either the men's or women's draw.
