TOKYO — Russia's Nadia Petrova beat defending champion Agnieska Radwanska 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 Saturday to win the Pan Pacific Open. Radwanska double faulted twice in the eighth game of the last set when Petrova broke the Pole to go ahead 5-3 before winning the match in the next game with a smash to the corner. Petrova won her 12th career title and for the first time in her career beat three top-10 players in the same week: No. 7 Sara Errani, No. 9 Samantha Stosur and No. 3 Radwanska. Radwanska was bidding to become the first player here to win back-to-back titles since Lindsay Davenport in 2003-04. Benneteau stuns Ferrer Julien Benneteau of France upset top-seeded David Ferrer of Spain 6-4, 6-1 Saturday to reach the final of the Malaysian Open. Benneteau will face second-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina, who outlasted Kei Nishikori of Japan, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (4) in Saturday's other semifinal at Kuala Lumpur's Putra Stadium. The fifthth-ranked Ferrer looked visibly tired and made multiple unforced errors in the 97-minute match against against Benneteau, who is ranked 29 spots lower. Simon, Gasquet reach final Gilles Simon upset top-seeded Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 6-4 Saturday to set up an all-French final against Richard Gasquet at the Thailand Open. Gasquet rallied from a set and two breaks down to beat Jarkko Nieminen 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 after the Finn failed to serve out the match when leading 5-4 in the second set. Kvitova in 2nd round Fourth seed Petra Kvitova sent out a message of intent Saturday, convincingly defeating Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets to progress to the second round of the China Open in Beijing. The world No. 5 from the Czech Republic was in full control throughout almost all of her first round match at the capital's National Tennis Stadium, powerfully overcoming her opponent, ranked 33 in the WTA standings, 6-2, 6-3. Earlier, former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic eased into the second round, defeating American Christina McHale in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. The 24-year-old Serbian played aggressively from the start, hitting big first serves and powerful forehand drives which McHale, ranked 28 in the world, was unable to match. She will play American Varvara Lepchenko, who defeated Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, in the second round. Also in the first round Saturday Taiwan's Hsieh Su-Wei, winner of the Guangzhou Open this month, defeated Zheng Saisai of China 6-2, 6-3 while in an all-Chinese clash Zhang Shuai beat Wang Qiang 6-3, 6-2. Romina Oprandi of Switzerland and Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro also progressed to the second round, as did Yaroslava Shvedova from Kazakhstan who was 6-4, 4-1 up when her opponent and 12th seed Dominika Cibulkova retired due to an injury. — Agencies
