In other matches, third-seeded Andreas Seppi of Italy beat John Millman of Australia 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, Australian Bernard Tomic, who beat No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic last week at the Hopman Cup, advanced with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 win over fifth-seeded Florian Mayer of Germany and Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan beat fourth-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-3, 6-3.
In the women’s draw, top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland advanced to the semi-finals with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Italy’s Roberta Vinci and Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia beat third-seeded Sara Errani of Italy 6-2, 6-1.
After winning the WTA event in Auckland last week, Radwanska has a seven-match winning streak this season.
“So far I feel good and I’m very happy that I can play good matches, already seven in a row,” Radwanska said.
“I think this year is the first time that I played two tournaments before [the Australian Open]. I never did that before. So far it’s good and I’m going to keep going,” she said.
Runner-up to Serena Williams in last year’s Wimbledon final, Radwanska is confident she can take the next step this year.
“For sure, I really have more confidence that I can be in the final of a Grand Slam and I can win it as well,” she said.
Fourth-seeded Li Na of China beat US qualifier Madison Keys 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-2.
HOBART INTERNATIONAL
REUTERS
In the Hobart International singles second round yesterday, Monica Niculescu of Romania beat Peng Shuai of China 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria beat Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens beat Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski 6-3, 6-2, while Australia’s Jarmila Gajdosova beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-3, 6-1