seeded Russians Nikolay Davydenko and Svetlana Kuznetsova booked their quarterfinal berths Wednesday at the Pilot Pen hardcourt tournament, last tune-up for the US Open. Davydenko, who heads the men's field, defeated France's Fabrice Santoro 7-5, 6-3 to advance. French Open champion Kuznetsova clawed her way past Belgian teenager Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-2). Defending women's champion and second seed Caroline Wozniacki also advanced to the quarterfinals, defeating rising Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 6-4. Kuznetsova, who won here two years ago, will play eighth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France in the quarterfinals Thursday. Kuznetsova admitted she lost focus at times, and said she knows she'll need to do better if she wants a shot at another Grand Slam title in New York. “I still have it, so I appreciate that I have it, but I have to work on closing out things when I have the chance to,” she said. Wickmayer earned a break in the third set to give herself a chance to serve for the match, but Kuznetsova broke her back and went on to force the tiebreaker. “I knew at five-all that if I wanted to win the match, I would have to play perfect,” Wickmayer said. “And I almost played perfectly, but I guess in the tiebreaker she was just too good for me.” Denmark's Wozniacki will play unseeded Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano, who advanced when fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland retired. Radwanska won the first set 6-3 but had dropped the second 6-4 when she retired with a hand injury. In other men's action, seventh-seeded Russian Igor Andreev beat Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil 6-4, 6-4 and Austrian Jurgen Melzer toppled eighth-seeded Romanian Victor Hanescu 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-1. Wozniacki took 43 minutes to win her first-round match then credited boxing with helping her score the quick knockout Tuesday. The second-seeded Wozniacki dominated Edina Gallovits of Romania 6-0, 6-0, winning 20 of the final 21 points in a 19-minute first set before taking 24 minutes to finish off Gallovits. The Danish star, ranked No. 9 in the world, said her speed and fitness level began improving just after Wimbledon, when friend and super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler suggested she take up boxing. “You run a lot,” she said. “You get strength in your stomach, your back, your shoulders, your arms, all the things that you also need in tennis.” So far, Wozniacki has hit mostly bags, sparring just once with her coach – and apologizing after she punched him. “He started yelling at me, ‘Why are you saying sorry? It's what the game is about. You have to hit me,” she said. “It's just fun to get some aggression out some times.” Third-seeded compatriot Tommy Robredo wasn't as fortunate, losing to Jose Acasuso of Argentina 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5). Also, fifth-seeded Mardy Fish, a finalist for the last two years, was ousted by fellow American Rajeev Ram 6-3, 6-3. Seventh-seeded Igor Andreev of Russia hammered American Kevin Kim 6-3, 6-1 and eighth-seeded Romanian Victor Hanescu beat Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 6-7 (8-10), 6-3. German Bjorn Phau posted a modest upset by defeating ninth-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 and Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil toppled German Philipp Petzschner 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (10-8), 6-3. German Andreas Beck, who was seeded 13, also lost.
