SYDNEY — American qualifier Ryan Harrison upstaged his top-seeded countryman John Isner 6-4, 6-4 in a second-round match at the Sydney International Wednesday. The exit of Isner, who was promoted to the No. 1 seeding after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet withdrew, followed two more injury withdrawals: No. 2 and 2011 Sydney champion Giles Simon (neck) and No. 6 Radek Stepanek (back). Isner, who withdrew from the Hopman Cup in Perth last week with a right knee injury, lasted 71 minutes against No. 64-ranked Harrison. The Australian Open starts Monday, leaving injured players little time to prepare for the season's first major. In other matches, third-seeded Andreas Seppi of Italy beat John Millman of Australia 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, Australian Bernard Tomic, who beat No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic last week at the Hopman Cup, advanced with a 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over fifth-seeded Florian Mayer of Germany, and Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan beat fourth-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-3, 6-3. In the women's draw, top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland advanced to the semifinals with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Roberta Vinci of Italy, and Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia beat third-seeded Sara Errani of Italy 6-2, 6-1. After winning the WTA event in Auckland last week, Radwanska has a seven-match winning streak this season. “So far I feel good and I'm very happy that I can play good matches, already seven in a row,” Radwanska said. “I think this year is the first time that I played two tournaments before (the Australian Open). I never did that before. So far it's good and I'm going to keep going.” Runner-up to Serena Williams in last year's Wimbledon final, Radwanska is confident she can take the next step in 2013. “For sure I really have more confidence that I can be in the final of a Grand Slam and I can win it as well,” she said. In night matches, fourth-seeded Li Na of China beat American qualifier Madison Keys 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2 to advance to Thursday's semifinal against Radwanska, and second-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany came from 3-0 down in the second set to beat two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 7-5. Li said she was surprised by the power and big serve displayed by Keys, who Li predicted would rapidly improve on her ranking of 135. “If she plays a level like this every match she should be soon, top 20, top 15, top 10,” Li said. “I got the information she had a big serve but did not think it would be like it was today.” Li won Sydney in 2011 and was runner-up to Victoria Azarenka last year. “Maybe it's a lucky area for me,” Li said. — AP
