BASTAD, Sweden - Home favorite Johanna Larsson's strong start at the Swedish Open continued on Wednesday.
The top-ranked player from Sweden in the field at the WTA 125 event cruised into the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Arantxa Rus, a day after she also served a bagel to top seed Sorana Cirstea in a 6-0, 7-6(2) win.
Facing Rus for the first time in a decade, Larrsson never allowed her Dutch opponent to hold serve in 63 minutes, as she broke six times to improve her head-to-head against the left-hander to 3-0.
The former Swedish No.1, who won her first career title in Bastad when it was a WTA International-level event in 2015, will next face No.8 seed Aleksandra Krunic, who was a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Turkey's Basak Eraydin on Wednesday in just 51 minutes.
Also advancing among the seeds were No.4 seed Mona Barthel, No.5 seed Fiona Ferro and No.6 seed Natalia Vikhlyantseva, as both Barthel and Vikhlyantseva surrendered just three games in their second round matches.
Barthel cruised against Tereza Mrdeza, advancing in just 60 minutes, while Vikhlyantseva needed just 56 minutes to see off Ekaterina Gorgodze of Georgia, 6-3, 6-0.
Ferro avoided an upset bid against another Swedish player, however, as she survived a game effort from wildcard Mirjam Bjorklund to also book her spot in the quarterfinals.
The No.7 seed needed two hours and 10 minute to see off the World No.320, ranking 220 places below her, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, to book a place against Poland's Katarzyna Kawa, who came from a set down to beat Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Unlike Ferro, No.3 seed Aliona Bolsova and No.7 seed Elena Rybakina were unable to avoid the upset bug, falling to Danka Kovinic and Misaki Doi, respectively.
Former Top 100 players, Kovinic beat Bolsova, 6-4, 6-2, while Doi came from a set down to beat Rybakina, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
