li Na kept alive local hopes of a first homegrown champion in the China Open when she reached the quarterfinals with a tough 7-5, 6-4 win over Sabine lisicki of Germany on Wednesday.
Also, 2005 champion Rafael Nadal edged Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-4, 7-6 (3) to move into the third round. li broke lisicki twice in each set, overcoming seven double faults and holding off six of eight break chances. To equal her previous best efforts in Beijing, the semifinals in 2010 and 2012, li will face Petra Kvitova, against whom she has a 3-2 record.
Kvitova beat Sara Errani of Italy 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3 in a 2 1/2-hour third-round match which featured 19 breaks of serve. Former champions Agnieszka Radwanska (2011) and Jelena Jankovic (2008) won their second-round matches, but two-time former winner Svetlana Kuznetsova lost to Andrea Petkovic of Germany 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Polish qualifier Polana Hercog ousted Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-4 and will play Radwanska for a spot in the last eight. Nadal and Kohlschreiber traded five breaks of serve in their first set but couldn't break the other in the second and were separated only in the tiebreaker. Nadal won for the 11th time in 12 matches with the German. Also, Fabio Fognini of Italy, enjoying his career-best year with two titles, routed lleyton Hewitt 6-0, 6-2, and eighth-seeded John Isner also advanced.
Del Potro in quarters
Tokyo: Top-seeded Juan Martin del Potro moved into Japan Open quarterfinals with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win over fellow Argentine Carlos Berlocq on Wednesday. Del Potro broke Berlocq's serve twice in the second set, and lost only eight points on serve under the roof, closed by rain. After Tuesday's three-set victory over Marcos Baghdatis, del Potro said it was good to find his rhythm.
Del Potro, who is seeking his third title of the season following victories in Rotterdam and Washington, will next play Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine, who defeated eighth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-3, 7-6 (2). In the day's only upset, Ivan Dodig of Croatia ousted second-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 7-6 (5). Matching 2009 champion Tsonga with nine aces, Dodig saved all three break points he faced. Dodig will attempt to earn a place in his third semifinal of 2013 against Jarkko Nieminen of Finalnd, who beat Michal Przysiezny of Poland 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2.
In other matche, third-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada advanced to the second round with a 6-4, 7-6 (0) win over wild card Go Soeda of Japan in the opening match on Center Court. Raonic, coming off a win at the Thailand Open on Sunday, dominated Soeda with his serve, hitting 24 aces. "I served really well," Raonic said.