Lucie Safarova has become the marathon woman of the grass court season with the former Wimbledon semi-finalist admitting she was wondering if any of her matches would last less than two hours. That is why the popular Czech left hander was full of smiles as she reflected on a 6-2, 6-4 win over rising Japanese player Naomi Osaka at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham that had taken just 70 minutes to achieve on centre court.

Safarova was involved in a series of lengthy battles at Nottingham last week – her defeat by eventual champion Donna Vekic lasted two hours and 48 minutes - and her opening match at the Edgbaston Priory club had taken two hours and 40 minutes to complete as she knocked out Dominika Cibulkova, the world No.6. That was a big scalp for Safarova who, alongside Bethanie Mattek-Sands, currently holds the US Open, Australian and French Open doubles titles and the victory over Cibulkova proved that she still remains a force on grass when operating on her own.

She'll now play world No.21 Daria Gavrilova in the quarter-finals and goes into the match having won their most recent meeting in straight sets at the Miami Open. It will be Gavrilova who has to come back from a long match after taking two hours and 23 minutes to beat Katerina Siniakova, of the Czech Republic, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.

Safarova’s ability to compete at the very highest level over long periods is even more remarkable when you consider that just over a year ago she decided to follow a gluten and lactose free diet, having been struck down with a series of illnesses before doctors revealed she was dealing with reactive arthritis. A year later, Safarova is still opting for a gluten free diet but does have days off as she was concerned about weight loss. The balance she has found has enabled the bubbly Czech to go into potentially long matches confident in her ability to last the course.

The world No.41 explained: "I was thinking 'am I ever going to play a match under two hours?' I am not full gluten free at the moment but on match days I don’t have any gluten to give me an energy boost. I am not as strict as I was a year ago but still pretty much follow the diet and have played a lot of matches in singles and doubles and feel good fitness wise. After my sickness the diet helped me clean my body and it was very strict and I was getting skinny because it was hard to eat so much quantity and play matches and that’s why I add a bit of gluten and sugars to the diet.

“The diet does help me recover better and I have more energy for the games. This is an exciting time of the season and I enjoy grass. I will have another tough match with Daria in the quarter-finals and she is a great grass court player and moves really well. I am playing well and I am looking forward to it and feel great. “

Double Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is also feeling great having dismissed the challenge of Naomi Broady 6-2, 6-2 to continue her comeback from the knife attack at her home six months ago that damaged her racket hand. Kvitova now admits that her recent injury has made her look differently at her matches and said: "I think I do have a little bit of a different view of tennis right now. When I'm playing, I'm just a little bit more relaxed and I'm not as nervous as I was before.”

Australia’s Ashleigh Barty showed her grass court skills to knock out eighth seed Barbora Strycova 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 and the Australian is hitting form at just the right time.

At the Aegon Trophy in Ilkley, former Wimbledon junior champion Laura Robson celebrated her main draw singles wild card for The Championships with a battling win over Russia’s Anna Blinkova. Robson now takes on Belgium’s Maryna Zanevska. There was also another win for 19-year-old American Taylor Fritz who beat India’s Yuki Bhambri. However, top seed Oceane Dodin was beaten by Kazahkstan’s Zarina Diyas, who also received a main draw singles wild card. There was success for qualifier Alex Bolt who knocked out second seed Norbert Gombos 6-4,7-6.

Quote of the Day

"It’s not necessarily her power, any soft ball or slow ball she nails it and you’ve got no chance.” Naomi Broady on facing Kvitova.