As defending champion Madison Keys joined Garbine Muguruza on the list of withdrawals, Venus Williams is the highest seed left in the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic draw and the third-seeded American completed the quarterfinal lineup by beating British Heather Watson 6-4 4-6 6-0 in the second round on Thursday. Williams’ next opponent will be Maria Sakkari of Greece, who played the only straight-setter of the day, winning 11 consecutive games to defeat Hungarian Timea Babos 6-0 6-1.
Romanian fifth seed Mihaela Buzarnescu reached her seventh quarterfinal of the season by ending the run of young American qualifier Amanda Anisimova 7-5 2-6 6-1.