Top-seeded Andy Roddick breezed past Robby Ginepri 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the ATP’s Regions Morgan Keegan Championships on Thursday.
Roddick needed just 61 minutes to polish off Ginepri, drilling 11 aces and hitting 79 percent of his first serves.
In the Cellular South Cup women’s event, top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark recovered from a slow start to beat Netherlands’ Michaella Krajicek 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 and reach the semifinals.
PHOTO: EPA
Roddick will face another American opponent in the quarterfinals after No. 8-seeded Sam Querrey crushed former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-1, 6-2.
Second-seeded Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina also advanced to the last eight in the men’s draw with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Latvian Ernests Gulbis, setting up a clash with fifth-seeded Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, who comfortably defeated Austrian veteran Stefan Koubek 6-2, 6-4.
The other two men’s quarterfinals will be all-unseeded affairs: former world’s No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt against Belgium’s Christophe Rochus and Israel’s Dudi Sela versus Russian Igor Kunitsyn.
PHOTO: AFP
Hewitt beat his Australian Davis Cup teammate Chris Guccione 6-2, 7-6 (4) while Rochus was too strong for American No.7-seed Mardy Fish, winning 6-2, 6-4.
The 27-year-old Hewitt, working his way back from hip surgery, has already knocked off two big names this week.
He ousted third-seed James Blake in three sets in the first round and beat the great Pete Sampras in an exhibition on Monday.
Rochus, 30, showed some of his old form. After his ranking plunged to 194 in late 2007, the Belgian put together a 41-15 record with two titles and five finals on the Challenger Tour to resurrect his career.
Sela snuck past Florent Serra of France 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), and Kunitsyn fought back to down German Philipp Petzschner 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
In the women’s draw, Wozniacki’s win set up a semi-final against Anne Keothavong. The fourth-seeded Briton beat fifth-seeded Marina Erakovic of New Zealand 6-2, 1-6, 6-2.
The other semi-final will see second-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus meet Germany’s Sabine Lisicki.
Azarenka breezed past France’s eighth seeded Pauline Parmentier 6-4, 6-2, while No. 6 Lisicki caused a minor upset by ousting third-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4.
■OPEN 13
AP, MARSEILLE, FRANCE
Novak Djokovic reached the quarter-finals of his third straight tournament by beating Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-4 at the Open 13 on Thursday.
Frenchmen Gilles Simon, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra also joined the third-ranked Serb in the last eight.
Djokovic broke Hernych in the second game but dropped serve for 5-4. They also traded breaks in the second set, with Djokovic again claiming the set on Hernych’s serve.
■DUBAI CHAMPIONSHIPS
AGENCIES, DUBAI
Serena Williams will face big sister Venus in the semi-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championship after both advanced with straight-set wins on Thursday.
The top-seeded Serena beat eighth-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals, and Venus beat Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-3.
Also, Virginie Razzano of France upset fifth-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia 7-6 (7), 7-5, and 16th-seeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia beat Russian qualifier Elena Vesnina 6-3, 7-5.
Unseeded Razzano came out firing from the start of the two hour 23-minute match, which consisted of furiously-contested baseline rallies.
Razzano squandered a 5-3 lead in the first set before clinching it by winning the tiebreak 9-7.
After trading seven breaks of serve in the second set, Razzano sealed victory with a backhand winner.
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Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
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