MOSCOW: Former Grand Slam champions Ana Ivanovic and Samantha Stosur made the Kremlin Cup quarterfinals with straight-sets victories on Thursday to set up a rematch of last year’s semifinal.

The former top-ranked Ivanovic beat Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-1, while 2011 US Open winner Stosur extended her winning streak to seven matches by beating Alize Cornet of France 6-4, 6-1 in the second round.

The fourth-seeded Ivanovic led 5-0 in the first set, traded early breaks in the second and rolled the rest of the way.

“It wasn’t an easy match for me,” Ivanovic said. “I really started well. But she’s a tough player and the second set was much tougher that the scoreline indicates. But I added power in the important moments and was very pleased to win.” On Sunday, former French Open champion Ivanovic lost to Angelique Kerber of Germany in the final in Linz — her first appearance in a final since winning her 11th title in Bali in 2011.

Stosur, who won her second title of the season last Sunday in Osaka, won five consecutive games to win the first set and go 2-0 up in the second.

“I did what I had to do,” Stosur said. “I made her play more balls when I had a chance to attack deep, so overall it was a pretty solid match.” Stosur rallied to beat Ivanovic in the semifinals last year before falling to Caroline Wozniacki in the final.

“It was a very tough match. She plays differently than lots of other girls. She has lot of kick, a lot of power,” Ivanovic said of that match and Stosur. “This year we are meeting a little bit earlier and I really hope I can avenge that loss.” In the men’s second round, veteran Ivo Karlovic landed 16 aces to eliminate fifth-seeded Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-3, 6-7 (10), 7-6 (6), while qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan defeated fourth-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-4, 6-4.

Haas sees off Mecir junior

In Vienna, former champion Tommy Haas saw off qualifier Miloslav Mecir Jr 7-5, 7-6 (10/8) on Thursday to reach the Austrian Open quarterfinals.

The 25-year-old Slovak qualifier is the son of former No.4 Miloslav Mecir, the 1988 Olympic champion who also reached the 1986 US Open and 1989 Australian Open finals.

Second seed Haas, 35, is playing the Vienna event for the 11th time, having won the title in 2001 and now stands at 12-9 at the Stadthalle.

But the win, in just under two hours, was far from simple for Haas, who withdrew last week in Shanghai before his third-round match with back pain.

The German had to save a set point in the opener before finally winning 7-5 in three quarters of an hour.

Italian third seed Fabio Fognini began with a victory over Pole Lukas Kubot 7-5, 6-2 while Robin Haase defeated seventh seed Vasek Pospisil 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (5/7), 6-2.

French top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was starting his campaign later against German Daniel Brands.