Australian Open: Caroline Wozniacki and Elina Svitolina reach last eight

Wozniacki is bidding for her first Grand Slam title

World number two Caroline Wozniacki cruised into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with victory over 20th seed Magdalena Rybarikova.

The Dane, 27, took 11 of the last 12 games to win 6-3 6-0 in 63 minutes against her Slovakian opponent on Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

Fourth seed Elina Svitolina saw off Czech Denisa Allertova even more quickly, winning 6-3 6-0 in 57 minutes.

"I am very pleased with the performance," said Svitolina.

"It is not the first time I am going into the tournament as one of the favourites. It adds more pressure, but also gives you extra confidence."

The Ukrainian, 23, will face Elise Mertens in the quarter-finals.

Mertens became the first Belgian to reach the last eight in Australia since Kim Clijsters in 2012, as the unseeded world number 37 beat Croatia's Petra Martic 7-6 (7-4) 7-5.

Wozniacki, who hit 25 winners and dropped only six points in the second set, will play Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro in her third Australian Open quarter-final.

The unseeded Suarez Navarro progressed with a 4-6 6-4 8-6 victory over Estonia's Anett Kontaveit in two hours 17 minutes.

Such was Wozniacki's confidence she even produced a between-the-legs shot during the first set and although it did not win her the point it summed up her mood.

"I think you can tell my confidence is pretty good, I was pretty proud of that," said the former world number one.

"I've tried a few in practice but usually make a fool out of myself."