TOKYO — Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka of Belarus overcame a dizzy spell to beat Italy's Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-2 Wednesday and advance to the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open. Azarenka, playing in her first tournament since losing in the US Open final to Serena Williams, had her blood pressure checked after going down 4-3 in the first set but bounced back to win the next three games. “I felt dizzy on the court and my head was spinning in between points which made it difficult to focus,” Azarenka said. Azarenka will meet Angelique Kerber in Thursday's quarterfinals. Kerber defeated Urszula Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 6-1. Two-time champion Maria Sharapova defeated Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 7-6 (5) to set up a quarterfinal meeting with eighth-seeded Sam Stosur of Australia, a 6-4, 7-5 winner over Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova. In other matches, Sara Errani of Italy beat Marion Bartoli 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 to set up a quarterfinal showdown with Nadia Petrova of Russia, who beat Petra Martic of Croatia 7-6 (2), 6-7 (1), 6-4. Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark beat China's Li Na 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and will face third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals. Radwanska beat American player Jamie Hampton 6-4, 6-3. Davydenko, Istomin and Falla advance Inaugural champion Nikolay Davydenko took a lot longer than expected to put away Indian lucky loser Sanam Singh 7-5, 6-4 in the first round of the Malaysian Open Wednesday. Fellow Russian Alex Bogomolov Jr. beat British qualifier Dominic Inglot 7-5, 6-3 and set up a second-round match with top-seeded David Ferrer. Colombian Alejandro Falla moved on after American Rajeev Ram pulled out with a hamstring injury while trailing 7-6 (4), 4-2, and Denis Istomin of Uzkebistan beat sixth-seeded Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-3, 6-2. Tipsarevic in quarters Top-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia was first into the Thailand Open quarterfinals after beating Japanese qualifier Hiroki Moriya 6-4, 6-4 Wednesday. Gael Monfils' fine return from injury extended to the second round after he beat South African qualifier Kevin Anderson 6-4, 2-6, 7-5. Go Soeda of Japan beat local wild card Danai Udomchoke 6-4, 7-5, and Ivo Karlovic of Croatia defeated Marinko Matosevic of Australia 6-3 6-4. Finnish seventh seed Jarkko Nieminen beat German Philipp Petzschner 7-6 (7/1), 6-2. — Agencies
