DOHA — Fresh off winning a second consecutive Australian Open, top-ranked Victoria Azarenka breezed into the third round of the Qatar Open with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Romina Oprandi Wednesday. The defending champion was joined by fourth-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat Australian qualifier Anastasia Rodionova 6-3, 6-2. But American Sloane Stephens, who upset Serena Williams in the Australian Open quarterfinals, was beaten by Klara Zakopalova in three sets. Azarenka, who retains her top ranking if she reaches the final and Serena Williams fails to reach the semifinals, had a nervous start. She was broken early and quickly fell behind 2-0. But Azarenka recovered, breaking the Swiss player three times to win the first set. Azarenka jumped out to 3-0 in the second and wasn't caught. In other results: Nadia Petrova of Russia beat Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan 3-6, 6-2, 6-4; Ana Ivanovic of Serbia beat Simona Halep of Romania 6-3, 0-0 (Halep retired); Christina Mchale of the US beat Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2; and Sara Errani of Italy thumped Timea Babos of Hungary 6-4, 6-0 On Tuesday, Serena also reached the third round with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Russian qualifier Daria Gavrilova. Gilles Simon in quarters In the Netherlands, Gilles Simon became the first player to reach the quarterfinals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament by beating Italian qualifier Matteo Viola 6-3, 6-1 Wednesday. The fifth-seeded Frenchman will face the winner of the second-round match between Martin Klizan and Igor Sijsling, who upset Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round. Marcos Baghdatis reached the second round when his French opponent Benoit Paire retired while trailing 6-0, 6-7 (3), 4-0. Another French player, fourth-seeded Richard Gasquet, beat Viktor Troicki of Serbia 7-6 (3), 6-1 to reach the second round. Nadal wins doubles In Sao Paulo, Spain's Rafael Nadal teamed up with Argentina's David Nalbandian to post a three-set doubles victory in the Brazil Open late Tuesday. The world No. 5, back on a court after his defeat in the Vina del Mar Open in Chile Sunday, and his partner won 6-3, 3-6, 11-9 in just 79 minutes over fellow Spaniards Pablo Andujar and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the first round of the ATP clay court event. The third set was hard fought with Nadal and Nalbandian saving two match points before prevailing 11-9. The Spanish star was mobbed by adoring fans as he left the court. Hewitt advances In California, former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt rallied from a set down to defeat Blaz Kavcic 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) in their first round encounter at the SAP Open Tuesday. The Australian veteran trailed 3-6, 1-3 and faced a break point before rallying to take the second set. He was also in trouble in the decider but battled back to win in two hours and 35 minutes. The win for the 31-year-old Hewitt, who advances to play third-seeded American Sam Querrey in the second round, follows two previous defeats to Kavcic. In other action Tuesday, Benjamin Becker overcame Ryan Harrison 6-7 (3-7), 7-5, 6-3 and Vasek Pospisil cruised past Evgeny Donskoy 7-5, 6-1. Pospisil did not face a break point, winning 31 of his 35 first serve points. He next squares off against second seed John Isner. — Agencies
