News from 38 week 2012 : 17 September to 23 September and upto 26 Sept

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia —

Vasek Pospisil of Canada advanced to the quarterfinals of the Malaysian Open on Wednesday by beating American qualifier Michael Yani 6-3, 7-5.

The 22-year-old Pospisil will next face either second-seeded Juan Monaco or wild-card entry Jimmy Wang.

“I have had a few good matches and hopefully I can keep my level,” Pospisil said. “I lost to Monaco in straights set early this year but whomever I play, it will be tough.”

Also, Nikolay Davydenko defeated Indian lucky loser Sanam Singh 7-5, 6-4, and Alex Bogomolov Jr. wasted nine break points before beating British qualifier Dominic Inglot 7-5, 6-3. Bogomolov will next meet top-seeded David Ferrer.

Alejandro Falla of Colombia advanced after Rajeev Ram of the United States retired with a hamstring injury while trailing 7-6 (4), 4-2, and Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan beat sixth-seeded Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-3, 6-2.

TOKYO —

Two-time champion Maria Sharapova overpowered Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 7-6 (5) to advance to the Pan Pacific Open quarterfinals on Wednesday.

The second-seeded Sharapova was coming off a tough, three-hour win over British qualifier Heather Watson on Tuesday, while Safarova advanced to the third round on a walkover.

Sharapova coasted through the first set and led 3-0 before Safarova mounted a comeback, breaking Sharapova three times to take a 6-5 lead.

Sharapova broke Safarova in the final game to force a tiebreaker which she won with an ace after 1 hour, 43 minutes.

“After a long match yesterday I was really happy to win in two sets,” Sharapova said. “I had a bit of a letdown in the second set but was really happy that I could close it out in the tiebreaker.”

Sharapova will face Sam Stosur in the quarterfinals. The eighth-seeded Australian beat Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-4, 7-5.

In other matches, Sara Errani of Italy beat Marion Bartoli 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 while Nadia Petrova of Russia beat Petra Martic of Croatia 7-6 (2), 6-7 (1), 6-4.

After struggling in the first set, the sixth-seeded Errani broke Bartoli in the second game of the second set and never looked back.

“It was a tough match on this fast court,” said Errani, who has won three titles this year. “I didn’t start off well but neither did she. She got a little tired in the second set and that’s when I started to play better.”

Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka faced Roberta Vinci of Italy later Wednesday.

MONTREAL

— Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak has been sidelined for the rest of the year with a joint sprain in her right shoulder.

The country’s top female player from Blainville, Que., was diagnosed with an acromioclavicular joint sprain and will be out of action for at least six week, ending her 2012 season.

“I am keeping a positive attitude in spite of this new injury I suffered recently at the tournament in Quebec City,” Wozniak said in a statement. “I was in a good position heading into the last events of the season because I didn’t have a lot of points to defend. It’s unfortunate as I was hoping to improve my ranking (No. 43), but I will come back stronger.”

Wozniak will undergo physiotherapy as soon as the inflammation and pain subsides, and then begin training for the 2013 season.

She expects to open the WTA season in Australia in January.