Kanepi upsets Wozniacki to reach Tokyo quarters
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Kaia Kanepi upset top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open.
The 43rd-ranked Kanepi rallied from three games down in the third set and won the match when she broke the defending champion with a forehand down the line.
After a sluggish start, Wozniacki dominated the second set but was unable to keep the momentum in the third when she was broken three times by the Estonian player.
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"I played some good tennis in the second set and the first half of the third but then I couldn't get my serve in," Wozniacki said. "Kaia played a good match today. I'll try to do better next time."
Kanepi will face ninth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the Thursday's quarterfinals. Radwanska beat eighth-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 2-6, 6-4, 6-0.
In other matches, second-seeded Maria Sharapova earned a hard-fought 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) win over 13th-seeded Julia Goerges of Germany.
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Sharapova came back from a 1-3 deficit in the first set and from a 3-5 hole in the second.
"It was a tough match," Sharapova said. "Two sets go to tiebreak, I was pleased that although I really didn't play my best in the match I stepped it up in the tiebreaks and that was the difference."
Sharapova will face fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic on Thursday in a rematch of this year's Wimbledon final. Kvitova beat American Vania King 6-1, 7-6 (4).
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"It was a tough loss against her at Wimbledon," Sharapova said. "I thought she played great tennis. She hit the ball big and deep, had a great serve. I hope I can learn from that match and I'm looking forward to it."
Maria Kirilenko of Russia also advanced with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Ana Ivanovic and seventh-seeded Marion Bartoli coasted to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Peng Shuai of China.
Third-seeded Victoria Azarenka defeated Klara Zakopalova 6-3, 7-5 and will face Bartoli.
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Kirilenko, who knocked out U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur on Tuesday, broke her opponent in the first game of the second set and never was threatened by the 12th-ranked Serb, who took a medical timeout midway through the second set because of a sore back.
"To be honest, I was a little bit tired today when I woke up," Kirilenko said. "I didn't have that much time to recover because we finished so late yesterday."
Kirilenko broke Ivanovic again to go up 4-1 in the second set and took advantage of her opponent's sixth double fault in the last game to close out the match in 1 hour, 19 minutes at Ariake Colosseum.
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Kirilenko will face fourth-seeded Vera Zvonareva, who defeated Iveta Benesova 6-1, 6-2.
"You do get more and more confident with each win," said Kirilenko, who has yet to beat Zvonareva in five matches. "I've had so many tough matches against Vera."