BEIJING: Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki Wednesday powered her way into the round of 16 at the China Open, leaving her just one victory shy of wresting the WTA's top ranking from Serena Williams next week. The 20-year-old Dane - taking the court for the first time in Beijing as the top seed - struggled in the first set but then rallied to notch a relatively easy second-round victory over Italy's Sara Errani, 6-4, 6-2. The Dane will face Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic Thursday for her chance to reign supreme in the world of women's tennis, but she insisted the top spot was not her main focus. In other women's match play at the 6.6 million-dollar WTA/ATP event, Russian second seed Vera Zvonareva and French Open champion Francesca Schiavone each came from behind to win in three sets and claim spots in the quarterfinals. Israel's Shahar Peer and Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky easily advanced to the quarters. In the men's draw, top seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia advanced to the quarterfinals in a walkover when American Mardy Fish was forced to pull out due to a left ankle injury. Russian fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko survived a tough challenge from Croatia's Marin Cilic, the runner-up here last year, prevailing 7-5, 7-5 in just under two hours. American wild card John Isner and France's Gilles Simon also advanced. Garcia-Lopez in quarters In Tokyo, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez reached his second quarterfinals in two weeks when he ousted sixth-seeded Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the Japan Open Wednesday. Garcia-Lopez, who won the Thailand Open Sunday, saved four out of four break points against his fellow Spaniard. “The key of the match was the tiebreak,” Garcia-Lopez said. “He was winning 5-4 and he was serving, so he had a chance to win the set, but I won the next two points on his serve.” Garcia-Lopez said his semifinal win in Bangkok over Rafael Nadal was a big boost to his confidence. Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, who lost to Garcia-Lopez in the Bangkok final, won through to the last eight by beating Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 6-3, 7-6 (8), and former top-10 player Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic beat Marco Chiudinelli when the Swiss player retired with a lower back injury while Stepanek was leading 5-7, 7-6 (7) 4-1. Dmitry Tursunov of Russia, ranked 432nd after thee left ankle surgeries, outlasted 2007 runner-up Richard Gasquet of France 7-6 (2), 1-6, 6-4 to make his first quarters since July 2009. Top-seeded Nadal and second-seeded Andy Roddick play their second-round matches Thursday.
