As play continued on the middle Sunday, players sought a place in the quarterfinals. It turned out to be a day for the favorites in the women’s draw at the Australian Open.

Bouchard survives and advances

Seventh seed Eugenie Bouchard met Irina-Camelia Begu of Romanian in Rod Laver Arena on Sunday morning. And in a match that looked to be heading firmly in her direction, Bouchard found herself in a fight, but she pulled it together for a 6-1 5-7 6-2 win.

Bouchard began play crisp and in charge against a tentative Begu, whose strokes lacked pace early. The Canadian pressured her with sharp, deep strikes and before some patrons had made their way into Rod Laver, the first set was in Bouchard’s pocket in just 28 minutes.

Begu finally made progress in the second set but found herself down an early break once again. But this time she battled back and began to frustrate Bouchard as she gained an edge. The Montreal native sprayed shots, and unforced errors began to pile up, giving the Romanian a burst of confidence. And in a quick turnaround, Begu placed herself in a position to serve for the set. However, capitalizing on a nervous service game from the 24-year-old, Bouchard quickly struck back. But that success was short-lived as she failed to hold her own serve, and the set went to Begu.

After a loss of focus, Bouchard regrouped and gained success again in the third set, seizing control. Despite elevating her play, Begu lost serve twice in the set, and Bouchard served it out and took the match. Sandwiching solid tennis around a lapse that nearly cost her, she became the first player into the quarterfinals.

Afterwards, Bouchard was not pleased with her level of play, “I felt like I started really well, I wanted to keep it going,” she said. “She had some good shots and my level totally dropped– that’s not really good.”

Sharapova cruises

Next on Rod Laver was second-seeded Maria Sharapova against 21st seed Shuai Peng. It was a dominating performance by Sharapova, who cruised 6-3 6-0.

Early in the first set, neither player could find success against her opponent’s serve. But midway through the set, Sharapova was able to break through and gain the first advantage. Peng evened the set, but Sharapova continued to attack her serve, breaking again, and closed the set on her serve.

In the second set, Peng struggled with the power of Sharapova, which led to a high number of unforced errors, and the Russian took advantage. Sharapova ripped angled shots that moved Peng around the court, and her confidence soared. She refused to let up and overpowered the Chinese star with ease, advancing to the next round.

The victory sets up a quarterfinal match with Bouchard.

Makarova powers her way to quarterfinals

Ekaterina Makarova met Julia Goerges of Germany in Margaret Court Arena. And in an impressive display of power, the 10th seed advanced in straight sets, 6-3 6-2.

Makarova started quickly, breaking service three times to gain a decisive advantage. Although Goerges attempted to close late in the set with a service break of her own, it was too little, too late, and Makarova took the set.

In the same manner as the first set, the Russian broke Goerges’ serve early and continued to pressure her with her big groundstrokes. Once again, Goerges made a late run, but the lefty allowed very few openings in the second set and kept her foot on the gas, rolling through the set and into the quarterfinals. The 26-year-old took advantage of the German’s second serve, leading to six breaks of service in the match.

Makarova has yet to drop a set in the tournament. Her performance thus far has drawn comparisons to Petra Kvitova’s run at Wimbledon last summer.