Tokyo: Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska joined the big names in the third round of the Japan Open Wednesday after coming through tough second-round ties.
Former World No. 1 Wozniacki was taken to a tie-break by ex-top ten regular Daniela Hantuchova, but the Dane eventually prevailed 7-6(3), 6-1 to set up a match with eighth seed Li Na.
For Wozniacki, the match was more comfortable than her first-round battle with Serbian qualifier Bojana Jovanovski, which went to a tense decider.
World No. 3 Radwanska faced an imposing opponent in the shape of Jelena Jankovic, but beat the former US Open champion 6-2, 7-5 to extend her winning record against the Serb to 4-1.
She now faces unseeded American Jamie Hampton, who surprised world No. 15 Kaia Kanepi 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.
Wozniacki and Radwanska will meet in the quarterfinals if they win their respective matches.
That would be likely to favour Wozniacki, who has won five of their seven meetings, although Radwanska beat her in Sydney in January on a hard court, the same as in Tokyo.
IANS/RIA Novosti
First Published: Wednesday, September 26, 2012, 14:24