KEY POINTS:
Virginie Razzano has had a tough time of it since arriving in Auckland last week.
The world No 88 arrived for ASB Classic qualifying with a sore throat and jetlag.
Then followed stomach pain before her second qualifying match - and her back locked up before beating Estonian
Kaia Kanepi in the first round on Monday.
The magic fingers of a WTA trainer got her on court and, today, she's in the quarter-finals against fifth-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva.
"Every day there is something, but I try to play with this," she said, tapping the side of her head. Last night, feeling good for the first time on court, she whipped No 3 seed Daniela Hantuchova 6-1, 7-5 - making it three French players in the quarter-finals.
Razzano has played five matches in as many days and, despite her ailments, is proof that getting plenty of matchplay through qualifying can be beneficial. Razzano, a 23-year-old who lives in Nimes, reached No 35 in mid-2005. But she fractured a wrist last year and missed four months.
Now she's given herself the ideal springboard to push back inside the top 50. "My game is now in place."
Her compatriot Emilie Loit can count her wins over top 20 players on one hand. But you got the feeling her straight-sets swamping of defending champion and fellow Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli was sweet.
Loit was bounced out in the first round by Bartoli last year, but yesterday she was sharp around the court, grabbed her opportunities to win 7-5, 6-4, and now meets another French player, Camille Pin.
It was quelle horreur for world No 18 Bartoli yesterday. She looked cumbersome and lacking any spark by contrast with the lively leftie Loit.
Loit reckons her Australian Open win over Conchita Martinez in 1999 is the pick of her wins over top 20 players. This is second for the 27-year-old.
She has one tennis characteristic which perhaps no other player in the field possesses. "I like it when it is windy, with my sliced backhand," she said. "For me it is good, I can play every day it is windy."
World No 56 Loit trailed 2-4 in the first set, then rattled on 14 of the next 15 points and didn't look back. She moved Bartoli about the court skilfully and was well worth a surprise win.
"She can play better than me all year, but today I was better," Cherbourg-born Loit, who has won two singles and 16 doubles titles, said.
As for Bartoli, she knows what lies ahead.
"I need to spend a lot of time in the gym. I can play good tennis. I know it. I cannot lose these kind of matches," she said.