Lopez and Sijsling in Thai Open quarter-finals

Williams to take on in-form Bouchard in Pan Pacific Open q-finals

TOKYO: Venus Williams rallied from a set down yesterday to defeat Simona Halep of Romania 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 and reach the quarter-finals of the Pan Pacific Open.

Williams, making her first appearance in the Tokyo tournament since 2009, broke serve to go up 5-3 in the second set at Ariake Colosseum and then won with a cross-court forehand that Halep hit into the net.

“It was a very tough match,” Williams said. “She played very well. I don’t know how I was able to win the match. I just wanted to stay in Japan longer.”

Williams, who ousted top-seeded Victoria Azarenka on Tuesday, will face Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard in the quarter-finals.

Bouchard upset sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 7-5, 6-2.

Making her debut in the Tokyo tournament, Bouchard broke Jankovic to go up 5-2 in the second set and then held serve to win.

Jankovic had a 5-4 lead in the first set but Bouchard won the last three games after a talk with her coach.

“I felt like I wasn’t playing my best in the first set,” Bouchard said. “But I stayed with her and started to get a lot more aggressive near the end of the first set and that was the turning point.”

Bouchard, who is 46th in the world rankings, said winning last year’s junior Wimbledon title has given her confidence to compete at a higher level.

“That gave me a lot of confidence to play in the pros,” Bouchard said. “Playing week in, week out against the top players has made me a better player.”

In another third-round match, fourth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, defeated Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, 6-1, 6-1. — AP BANGKOK: Spain’s sixth seed Feliciano Lopez and Igor Sijsling of Holland booked the first of the quarter-final spots at the Thailand Open yesterday.

While Lopez went through without problems over Japan’sGo Soeda, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, there was plenty of hard work for Sijsling, who beat compatriot Robin Haase for the second time this season as he posted a 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) secondround win which took two-and-aquarter hours.

Sijsling, ranked 75th to the 60th of Dutch number one Haase, said: “It went well but it was a very tough match and we both played well. He got a bit defensive and tried to make the points longer, physically it was tough.

“I tried to play attacking tennis and it worked for me. I got to the net more and I think that helped in the end,” added the Bangkok debutant.

In concluding first-round play at the hard courts of the Impact Arena, Russian fifth seed Mikhail Youzhny struck six aces and saved all three break points in a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Italian Paolo Lorenzi.

Making his tournament debut, Youzhny will next play Uzbek Denis Istomin, winner over South Korea’s Jeong Suk-Young 6-3, 6-0. — AFP