Whittingham ruled out of clash with Namibia

to her knees on the clay before the pair shared a kiss and a cordial exchange at the net.

Third-seed Simona Halep had earlier reached the quarters by beating Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1, 6-1. Halep had lost her previous four clay-court matches against Suarez Navarro, including in the first round at Roland Garros in 2013.

Suarez Navarro dropped her opening service game in the second set but broke back in the next game. It was the only blip from Halep, the runner-up at Roland Garros in 2014.

The Romanian will face fifth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina for a place in the semi-finals. Scotland suffered a blow last night when pace bowler Stuart Whittingham pulled out of this week’s Intercontinental Cup clash with Namibia.

The Sussex star had been due to spearhead the attack in the four-day encounter which gets underway at Ayr today but has been forced out through injury.

Whittingham made his cap debut last month and claimed three wickets in the historic win over Sri Lanka.

His place goes to Glamorgan all-rounder Ruaidhri Smith who returns to the squad for the first time in almost a year.

Coach Grant Bradburn said: “It’s a shame that Stuart has had to miss this one out but it opens up an opportunity for Ruaidhri to come back into the squad and he will be eager to make a big impact.”

The Scots are desperate to kick-start what has been a rain-plagued I-cup campaign with 11 of a possible 16 days of cricket washed out.

A record of three draws and one defeat leaves them languishing in sixth place in the eight-team table – a massive 51 points behind leaders Afghanistan.

However, they start favourites to record their first win against a Namibian side who are bottom of the table.

Bradburn added: “The weather has frustrated us too often which is a shame because the I-cup is a format we value highly.

“Hopefully conditions in Ayr will be fine because the guys have worked really hard and are itching to get out on the park and put on a performance.”