Radwanska continues roll, makes Sydney final

SYDNEY — Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska has advanced to the Sydney International final, running her 2013 winning streak to eight matches with a 6-3, 6-4 win on Thursday over former French Open champion Li Na.

Radwanska, who lost in last year's Wimbledon final to Serena Williams, won the Auckland WTA tournament last week and goes into next week's Australian Open as the fourth-seeded player.

The Pole wasn't feeling pressure to extend her winning streak.

"Actually when I was going on court, of course if I win, great; if not, I mean, not that big deal because I really had a lot of matches here and in Auckland," she said. "I'm really ready for the Australian Open. It's always hard to say, but I think of course winning two tournaments in a row is a good thing."

Radwanska will play Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in Friday's final. Cibulkova beat second-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

In men's action, young Australian Bernard Tomic took a major step toward winning his first career ATP Tour title by downing defending champion Jarkko Nieminen.

The 20-year-old, ranked 64th, clawed back from dropping the opening set to oust the Finn, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-2 in a night quarter-final.

Tomic will take on either Italian third seed Andreas Seppi or Spanish eighth seed Marcel Granollers in Friday's semi.

Tomic's only previous tour semifinal ended in defeat against Andy Murray last January in Brisbane.

"I'm ready to go for tomorrow's semifinal," Tomic said. "I'm really confident now and I got a shot to get into the final for the first time in my career."

"So the next match is a big match and I'm going to do everything I can to win tomorrow.

"To get the chance to play (my) first Tour event final and to do it in Australia is going to be unbelievable, but I've got to play two quality players to do so."

The towering Kevin Anderson earlier Thursday became the first South African to reach the Sydney semifinals in nine years with victory over Denis Istomin.

The 36th-ranked Anderson accounted for the Uzbek 6-4, 6-3 in 84 minutes and will face last year's finalist Julien Benneteau of France in Friday's last four.

The last South African to reach the final four was Wayne Ferreira.

Benneteau, who lost to Nieminen in last year's final, was too strong for American qualifier Ryan Harrison, winning 6-4, 6-2.

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Reigning champion Radwanska reaches Pan Pacific Open final

World No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska moved within a win of becoming the first Pan Pacific Open champion to defend the title in eight years after defeating Angelique Kerber in the semifinals Friday.

Saluting the crowd: World No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska beats Angelique Kerber 6-1, 6-1 on Friday in the Pan Pacific Open semifinals in Tokyo. KYODO

Radwanska cruised past fifth seed Kerber in 59 minutes, winning 6-1, 6-1. The last player to win the title back to back was Lindsay Davenport in 2003-2004.

In Saturday's final, Radwanska will face surprising Russian veteran Nadia Petrova who beat an injured Samantha Stosur, last season's U.S. Open champion, 6-4, 6-2.

"There were a lot of tight games especially in the end," Radwanska said of her match with Kerber, who reached the last four by default after world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka pulled out.

"She's a big fighter, she never gives up. I think I played a good match today. Everything was working today and I'm happy about that."

Radwanska, a part-time student back in her native Poland, and the 30-year-old Petrova last played each other in 2008, when they met four times with Radwanska winning on three of those occasions.

"She's been playing great tennis this week and played a lot of good tight matches," the 23-year-old Radwanska said of Petrova. "For sure it won't be easy, but I'm just very happy I could reach the final again and will do everything to win the title."

Kerber tried to make a contest out of the match, taking the first game of the second set. But Radwanska — who did not double fault once whereas Kerber had seven — won the next six games to underline her domination.

In the first semifinal at Ariake Tennis Forest Park, Stosur lacked the flair she showed a night earlier when she eliminated Petrova's compatriot Maria Sharapova, going down 6-4, 6-2 to the 17th seed.

Petrova defeated No. 6 Sara Errani in the quarterfinals in three sets despite a bad back, and did not slow down against the ninth-ranked Stosur.

Petrova landed nine aces compared to none by Stosur, who did not convert a single break point.

Petrova reached the Pan Pacific Open final for her first time, and her second final of the season following the UNICEF Open she won in the Netherlands, in June.

"Sam is a tough opponent to play," she said. "She has a strong forehand and likes to dominate the game. With her you have to be alert, you have to play your best and I think I accomplished that today."

Petrova needed treatment on her lower back during her victory over Errani but said it was not an issue against Stosur.

"My back is doing well, I'm very pleased," Petrova said. "Overall at this stage, me and Agnieszka are beaten up already but this is the final. This is the last match of the tournament. You have to give it your best and everything you have left."

Stosur, on the other hand, did have physical issues against Petrova as she suffered an abdominal injury early in the match.

"I did something to myself in the third game of the match and I kind of kept going thinking it would go away but it didn't seem to," Stosur said. "I got some treatment and got it taped up and I was able to keep playing but I guess it's not the ideal situation."

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Venus follows sister out of French Open after loss to Radwanska

Out of reach: Venus Williams hits a return to Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska on her way to a 6-2, 6-3 defeat in the second round of the French Open on Wednesday. AFP-JIJI

PARIS — Used to be that Venus Williams was the one who was highly ranked, the one considered a title contender, the one who would dominate foes so thoroughly that matches would be tidily wrapped up in an hour.

Now 31, and figuring out from day to day how to handle an illness that saps her strength, Williams was on the wrong end of a lopsided 60-minute defeat in the second round of the French Open on Wednesday.

Looking glum and lacking the verve that carried her to seven Grand Slam titles, Williams barely put up any resistance and lost 6-2, 6-3 to No. 3-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland at Roland Garros. Coming a day after her younger sister Serena was stunned in the first round by 111th-ranked Virginie Razzano of France, the early exit marked the first time in 43 major tournaments with both in the field that neither Williams got to the third round.

"I felt like I played," Williams said after making a hard-to-fathom 33 unforced errors, 27 more than Radwanska. "That pretty much sums it up."

This one was not exactly an out-of-nowhere upset, considering that Williams is ranked 53rd now, never has been as good on clay as on other surfaces, lost to Radwanska 6-4, 6-1 two months ago, and is learning how to be a professional athlete with Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease that can cause fatigue and joint pain.

Still, the meek way Williams departed was striking, considering that she has been ranked No. 1, has appeared in 14 major finals to Radwanska's zero, and from 2008-10 won 10 of the 11 sets the two played against each other.

"I don't know if I ever asked myself, 'Why me?' I mean, obviously it's frustrating at times. I don't know if there's anything mental more I can do at this point, but there's a lot of stages to go through with this kind of thing," said Williams.

"There's a lot of people who have it a lot worse than I do. I'm still playing a professional sport, so I have to be very positive. And I'm going to have ups and downs. I haven't gotten to the 'Why me?' yet. I hope I never get to the 'Why me?' I'm not allowed to feel sorry for myself."

While never advancing past the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam tournament, Radwanska has shown signs of being ready for a major breakthrough, with three lesser titles and a tour-high 38 victories in 2012. Of her seven losses, six were against No. 1-ranked Victoria Azarenka.

"Of course, when I saw the draw, I wasn't very happy, because Venus as a second-round opponent, it's not easy," Radwanska said. "Maybe she just had a bad day here."

On an easy day for the top-seeded players, Azarenka breezed into the third round with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Dinah Pfizenmaier of Germany 6-1, 6-1, while the No. 1 man, Novak Djokovic, extended his Grand Slam winning streak to 23 matches by beating Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia 6-0, 6-4, 6-4.

Also Roger Federer managed to make things look easy at the top. Now No. 3, he went through a bit of a glitch and dropped a set before earning his record-breaking 234th Grand Slam match victory, 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 against 92nd-ranked Adrian Ungur of Romania.

With the win, the 16-time Grand Slam champion broke a record he shared with Jimmy Connors for most career victories at major tournaments in the Open era, which began in 1968.

But he was less than his dominant self, wasting two match points in the third set before losing the tiebreaker.

"Instead of being aggressive, I let him show me what he could do," Federer said. "He played two beautiful shots, and then I started not playing very well."

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