Simona Halep, Stan Wawrinka advance at Rogers Cup

Fifth-seeded Simona Halep wasted little time advancing to the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Thursday while second-ranked Stan Wawrinka faced a bit more turbulence before moving on in the men's tournament in Toronto.

Halep, who was the runner-up of last year's tournament, needed just 68 minutes to post a 6-3, 6-3 win over 14th-ranked Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic.

"I'm happy that I won today. It's nice to be in the quarterfinals again, a second year in a row," the 24-year-old Romanian said during her on-court interview. "I enjoy my time here and I'm looking forward to the next round already."

The victory set up a rematch with ninth-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, who recorded a 7-6 (2), 6-3 victory over 12th-ranked Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic. Halep and Kuznetsova have split their first six career matches, although Kuznetsova walked away with a 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3 win in their recent semifinal match of the Sydney International and went on to win the title.

Also on the women's side, Daria Kasatkina of Russia upset seventh-ranked Italian Roberta Vinci, 7-5, 6-3.

Wawrinka overcame a tough opening set to post a 7-6 (3), 6-2 win over American Jack Sock.

"Not easy ... but I'm happy with the way I played in general and the win," said Wawrinka, who will face Kevin Anderson in the next round in a rematch of their U.S. Open quarterfinal tilt from 2015. The unranked South African continued his stellar run through Canada by recording a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over 12th-ranked Australian Bernard Tomic.

In other men's matches, third-ranked Kei Nishikori of Japan breezed to a 6-3, 6-4 victory over qualifier Rajeev Ram of the United States and Frenchman Gael Monfils posted a 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-4 win over seventh-ranked Belgian David Goffin.