• British No1 wins in straight sets, 6-4 6-2
• Baltacha progresses to quarter-finals of Istanbul Cup

Elena Baltacha pulled off a superb straight sets win over top seed and French Open champion Francesca Schiavone to move into the quarter-finals of the Istanbul Cup in the Turkish capital today.

Having battled past Turkish wild-card Cagla Buyukakcay in the first round, Baltacha looked a different player as she took the game to the stunned Italian and triumphed 6-4 6-2 in one hour and 25 minutes.

Baltacha stretched the Schiavone serve throughout, breaking five times on her way to securing her third WTA Tour quarter-final place of the year, where she will next meet the German sixth seed Andrea Petkovic.

Third seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova eased through with a 6-3 6-2 win over Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia. Romania’s Sorana Cirstea and Australia’s Jarmila Groth also reached the last eight.

Speaking after her victory, the British No1 said: “I’m really proud of today. I’ve had such a great year, it feels amazing.

“I’d like to think that this is the real Elena Baltacha. I’m beginning to perform much more consistently week in, week out and I’m improving a lot as a player. I still have a few things to work on but I feel that every week I’m adding a lot of positives to my game.”

Petkovic is next for Baltacha, who said of the match-up: “Every opponent is different and every opponent has a different style. All of the girls here are top players and all can play great tennis.

“I’m going into my next match against Petkovic fighting as hard as I can, trying to play the best tennis I can. Petkovic plays very differently to Schiavone, she plays a much faster ball, she will attack more and has a faster serve. I take it one match at a time and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.”