SEOUL: American Sloane Stephens cruised past Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm to advance to the quarter-finals of the WTA Korea Open on Thursday.

Third-seeded Stephens defeated Date-Krumm, champion in Seoul in 2009, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the tournament. The 22-year-old American won her first WTA title at the Citi Open in Washington last month. Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus meanwhile earned a surprise win over Magdalena Rybarikova defeating the Slovak 6-3, 6-3.

Russia’s Elizaveta Kulichkova also breezed past American Varvara Lepchenko 6-0, 6-2, while Romanian Irina Begu, ranked 29th in the world, defeated Slovenian Polona Hercog after a tough battle, eventually winning 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 6-2.