Caroline Wozniacki lost her quarterfinal at the Sydney International Tennis Tournament Wednesday, opening the way for Petra Kvitova to take over the No. 1 ranking before next week's Australian Open. Wozniacki, who needed a medical timeout in the final set to have her left wrist taped, lost 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 to seventh-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland. In the preceding match, Wimbledon champion and No. 2 Kvitova continued her pursuit of the top ranking by beating Daniela Hantuchova 6-0, 6-4 to move into the semifinals against French Open winner Li Na, who beat Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 7-6 (3). No. 3-ranked Victoria Azarenka beat No. 9-ranked Marion Bartoli 7-5, 6-4 and will play Radwanska in the other semifinal Thursday. Wozniacki's win in the opening set came among five service breaks between the players, and Wozniacki served for the match at 5-4 in the second before Radwanska began her comeback. The Danish player seemed to be increasingly bothered by what television commentators said was a sore tendon in her left wrist, and she had it heavily taped after the third game of the final set. In the men's draw, top-seeded Juan Martin del Potro had an easy straight-sets win in his opening match, while second-seeded John Isner was beaten by fellow American Bobby Reynolds. Del Potro defeated Lukasz Kubot 6-4, 6-2 in the second round. Reynolds beat Isner 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Third-seeded Richard Gasquet of France beat Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-2, 6-1, former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis defeated Matthew Ebden of Australia 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3) and Denis Istomin of Uzbekistsan had a 6-2, 6-1 win over American Ryan Sweeting. Ferrer reaches quarters In Auckland, defending champion David Ferrer of Spain advanced to the quarterfinals of the Heineken Open Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic. The top-seeded Ferrer, bidding for his third singles title in Auckland, needed just 61 minutes to beat the big-serving Rosol and set up a quarterfinal clash with Colombia's Alejandro Falla. French qualifier Benoit Paire, who ousted former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero in the first round, continued his surprising run, beating fourth-seed Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2. Olivier Rochus of Belgium struggled to beat sixth-seeded Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 7-6 (6), 5-7, 7-6 (5) in a match that lasted more than three hours, while second-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain advanced, beating Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-4, 6-2. Falla reached the quarterfinals by defeating Potito Starace of Italy 7-6 (3), 6-3 and eighth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany beat American teenager Ryan Harrison 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
