Top seed Beatriz Haddad Maia faced some late resistance but ultimately defeated fellow Brazilian Laura Pigossi 6-1 6-4 at the Sao Paulo Open to reach the quarter-finals.
Haddad Maia, who recently reached the U.S. Open fourth round, raced through Thursday's opening set in just 36 minutes and quickly went up 5-1 in the second.
Pigossi, 31, fought back by holding serve twice and breaking her opponent in the eighth game to close the gap.
She even had a chance to level matters in the 10th game, but Haddad Maia held her ground, winning the last three points to seal the second-round victory on home soil.
On Friday, Haddad Maia will face fifth seed Renata Zarazua of Mexico, who overcame Turkey’s Berfu Cengiz 6-4 6-4. Zarazua recently made headlines by defeating Madison Keys in the U.S. Open first round.
Meanwhile, Hungary’s Panna Udvardy advanced by beating another Brazilian, Ana Candiotto, 6-3 6-3.
Elsewhere, Jelena Ostapenko's scheduled round-of-16 match against Marina Stakusic at the Guadalajara Open was moved to Friday, while Magdalena Frech overcame Lucrezia Stefanini 6-1 7-6 and Iva Jovic saw off Camila Osorio 6-4 6-2 to progress to the quarter-finals in Mexico.
