Burnie TAS, Australia, 1 February 2017 | David Packman

Of the seven Australians who initially took part in the 2017 Caterpillar Burnie International, two remain with Arina Rodionova and Olivia Rogowska successfully reaching the quarterfinal stage on Wednesday.

Rodionova, the No.8 seed, eventually proved too strong for Destanee Aiava, taking just on two hours to defeat the 16-year-old Australian Open debutant in three sets, 6-4 1-6 6-3, while Rogowska edged out Frenchwoman Alize Lim by the exact same margin – albeit in a twenty-minute shorter timeframe.

Wildcards Jaimee Fourlis – who recently celebrated her maiden Grand Slam win at Melbourne Park – Olivia Tjandramulia, Sara Tomic and Naiktha Bains were all unsuccessful in their opening rounds earlier in the week.

Meanwhile, the tournament’s top seed, China’s Han Xinyun, was ousted by qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak in two comfortable sets. The Canadian highlighted her significant wares in the 6-3 6-2 victory –  the 29-year-old is a former world No.21 but currently sits outside the top 300 as she continues to battle her way back after several years hampered by injury.

The tournament’s other high seeds are all safely through to the quarterfinals, with Americans Taylor Townsend (No.2), Asia Mohammad (No.4) each recording three-set victories over compatriot Jamie Loeb and Japan’s Hiroko Kuwata respectively.

Fourth-seeded Russian Elizaveta Kulichkova also made safe passage and now meets Rodionova for a semifinal place in the ITF $60,000 event.

Rogowska will take on Townsend in the first meeting between the pair.

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