Adelaide International 2022 Day 5 scores, winners and recap: Kenin comes back from the brink; Swiatek, Azarenka roll into quarters

2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin fought her way back from the jaws of defeat to enter the quarterfinals of the Adelaide International on Thursday.

Her fellow Grand Slam champions Victoria Azarenka and Iga Swiatek, however, had a much easier route to the last eight of this WTA 500 event.

Here are the major results from Day 5 of the Adelaide International:

Great escape for Kenin

Sofia Kenin in action at 2022 Adelaide International 1

World No. 12 Sofia Kenin gave a demonstration of her steely determination and her excellent fighting spirit during her pre-quarterfinal clash. She faced 2021 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Ajla Tomljanovic.

Having been out of action since the Wimbledon Championships, the Moscow-born American has been taking some time to rediscover her touch. The 23-year-old needed two tight sets to see off Italian qualifier Lucia Bronzetti in her opening match at the Adelaide International.

But against local hope Tomljanovic, she had to dig deeper to continue her journey.

After being a set and 3-5 down, she found herself staring at the exit door, facing three match points while serving at 5-6. But the American was able to summon her champion self just in time to strike some blistering forehands past Tomljanovic. The Aussie then erred on the third match point to keep Kenin's hopes alive.

The sixth seed will need to polish her performance in her 2020 Australian Open semifinal rematch with World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty on Friday.

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Swiatek, Azarenka set up blockbuster quarterfinal clash

Defending champion Iga Swiatek was ruthless in her 6-1, 6-2 demolition of US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez. The Pole struck 17 winners while committing just eight unforced errors in a highly dominant performance where she didn't face a single break point.

With the win, Swiatek has now extended her winning streak at the Adelaide International to seven matches. The 20-year-old will now face former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in a blockbuster last-eight face-off.

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The Belarusian was largely untroubled in her 87-minute duel with Australian wildcard Priscilla Hon. Azarenka dropped her serve just once on her way to notching a 6-3, 7-5 win.

Doi wins battle of unseeded players

In the other pre-quarterfinal match of the day, Misaki Doi raced out to 4-0 against Anastasia Gasanova in a battle of two unseeded players. While the Russian fought her way back into the first set, she ultimately couldn't prevent the Japanese from wrestling back control on her way to a 7-6(4), 6-3 win.