TOKYO — World No. 6 Tomas Berdych reached the quarter finals of the Japan Open Thursday after beating Colombia's Alejandro Falla in a straightforward 6-3, 7-5 win. The 2008 Tokyo champion, from the Czech Republic, beat Falla in just 78 minutes and without facing a single break point. The win sets up a quarterfinal clash Friday with eighth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan, who beat Tommy Robredo of Spain 5-7, 6-1, 6-0. In other matches Thursday, third seed Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia beat Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland 6-4, 6-2, while sixth seed Milos Raonic of Canada went through when Serb Viktor Troicki retired with a calf injury. Fourth seed Juan Monaco of Argentina crashed to a 5-7, 6-1, 3-6 defeat to Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus. Li joins top seeds In Beijing, Li Na joined top seeds Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova in the last eight of the China Open Thursday but there was a shock in the men's draw with Richard Gasquet losing to a Chinese wild card. China's Li needed three sets and a tie break to overcome compatriot Peng Shuai 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3). She faces Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals. World No. 1 and first seed Azarenka dispatched Russian qualifier Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-3 to set up a quarterfinal tie with Switzerland's Romina Oprandi. Second-seed Sharapova defeated Slovenian qualifier Polona Hercog 6-0, 6-2. Sharapova will nex face Angelique Kerber of Germany. Kerber beat Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-1, 2-6, 6-4. The China Open is the fourth and final compulsory tournament of the women's calendar. Kerber's win came shortly after she discovered she had qualified for the Championships later this month, along with Czech Petra Kvitova and Sara Errani of Italy. The three will compete with Azarenka, Sharapova, Radwanska and Serena Williams, leaving only one place in the race up for grabs. In the men's section, fifth-seed Gasquet of France suffered a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 loss to lowly-ranked Zhang Ze. — Agencies
