Samantha Stosur appears to have her best chance to win a first title since the US Open after reaching the quarterfinals of the Dubai Open on Wednesday.

It is five months since the Australian captured the first Grand Slam title of her career in New York, but during her 6-1, 6-7 (7/5), 6-1 win over Lucie Safarova she showed glimpses of a return to title-winning form.

Safarova, who beat former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki in Doha last week, found more chances to flay her left-handed forehand cross court into Stosur's backhand in the second set.

But in the third Stosur was able to reimpose her serve and with some help of some forceful follow-ups, restored the earlier patterns of the match.

"I don't think I did much wrong in the second set and thought I played a good match," said Stosur. "I held serve and in the third set I took my opportunities to break."

Stosur's cause may also have been significantly aided by top-seeded Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka pulling out shortly before her first round match with an ankle injury.

That follows the pre-tournament absence of the second-seeded Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. Both players had been placed in Stosur's half.

With Li Na, the French Open champion from China, missing with a bad back, and Vera Zvonareva, the former Wimbledon finalist from Russia, absent with a hip problem, the draw has opened up for her invitingly.

Stosur next plays Jelena Jankovic, the former world No.1 from Serbia, who reached the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Flavia Pennetta.

Still playing with a tear in her bandaged left thigh, Jankovic recovered well from an early 1-3 deficit, adopting a more positive approach and finding a good combination of aggression with consistency.

Later the defending champion, Caroline Wozniacki, also reached the quarterfinals, after outplaying Simona Halep, a Romanian qualifier, 6-2, 6-3.