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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Sharapova reaches Pan Pacific quarterfinals

World No. 2 Maria Sharapova staved off a strong challenge from Lucie Safarova to beat her Czech opponent in a straight sets 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) victory on Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open.

The career Gram Slam titleholder dominated the first set, but the world 17th-ranked player dug deep in her energy reserves to force a tiebreaker in the second on a balmy day on center court at Ariake Tennis Forest Park.

Sharapova, making her seventh appearance here with titles in 2005 and 2009, rolled out to a 3-0 lead in the second set, but Safarova bounced back and broke the Russian former world No. 1 at triple breakpoint in the fifth game.

The pair played a see-saw battle, tying it twice at 4-4 and 5-5, and Safarova broke Sharapova again in the 11th game before her serve deserted her in the next game to force the extras.

"After winning the first set, and going up 3-0 in the second, I think I became a little frustrated. I thought I had the momentum," said Sharapova, adding that she struggled against the lefty's serve.

"The spin comes from a different direction (than right-handers), and it takes a little longer to get used to. When her serve is on, it can become quite tricky," she said.

Sharapova took a 3-0 lead in the tiebreak, but Safarova rallied to tie it at 4-4. The Russian pulled ahead and served out the match with an ace on the final point to finish in 1 hour, 43 minutes. Sharapova will next face Australian No. 8 seed Samantha Stosur, a 6-4, 7-5 winner over Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova in another third-round match.

Asked her prospects on facing Stosur in the quarterfinals on Thursday, Sharapova said, "I have a good record against her. But she is certainly a solid player; uses a lot of spin. It will be important to keep improving and play at a higher level against her."

Stosur, ranked ninth in the world and making her sixth appearance here, improved to 3-0 for her career against the world 13th-ranked Cibulkova, who played for the fourth time in Tokyo. Stosur broke her opponent three times and saved four out of five break points.

Italy's Sara Errani, the No. 6 seed, took advantage of France's Marion Bartoli's errant service game to rally in a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 win. Ninth-seed Bartoli shot herself down with 12 double faults.

"It was a different environment than I'm used to and a faster surface, so it was harder to play my game. I didn't start well, but from the second set after the first three games, she was more tired and I played a little better," said Errani.

Russian Nadia Petrova, the 17th seed, outlasted Croat Petra Martic 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (1-7), 6-4 to reach the final eight.

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Chelsea reaches deal to sign Marin

LONDON — Chelsea began preparing for next season on Saturday with an agreement to sign Germany midfielder Marko Marin from Werder Bremen.

The west London club, which still has a Champions League final to prepare for and three English Premier League games remaining, said on Saturday it has agreed to a fee for the 23-year-old playmaker and that Marin has accepted its offer of personal terms.

Chelsea did not say how much it would pay for Marin. Bremen paid Bundesliga rival Borussia Moenchengladbach about €8 million ($10.6 million) for him in 2009.

"We finalized the last details during the course of the day," Bremen general manager Klaus Allofs told Sky television on Saturday.

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Tendulkar reaches 100 centuries

DHAKA — Sachin Tendulkar became the first cricketer to score 100 international centuries on Friday.

Tendulkar, who had been stuck on 99 centuries for a year, reached the milestone in the Asia Cup when he hit to square leg and ran a single against Bangladesh.

He hardly celebrated, with the Bangladesh fielders seemingly more excited than the "Little Master" as they congratulated the best batsman of the modern era. He was finally out for 114, to a great over-the-head catch at long off by Mushfiqur Rahim.

Tendulkar already holds most of the major batting records, including most runs and centuries in both five-day tests and one-day internationals.

Tendulkar's batting prowess has often led to comparisons with Australian great Donald Bradman, who retired with an average of 99.94 runs.

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Djokovic thrashes Mahut; Nishikori reaches round of 16

MELBOURNE, Australia — Novak Djokovic gave Nicolas Mahut one lousy birthday present.

The top-seeded Djokovic routed the Frenchman 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 on Saturday to advance to the fourth round of the Australian Open. He needed only 1 hour, 14 minutes to dismiss the newly 30-years-old Mahut, who lost the longest match in Grand Slam history over 11 hours, 5 minutes against John Isner at Wimbledon in 2010.

"I wish him happy birthday and hopefully tonight he can enjoy it," Djokovic said.

The defending champion is aiming to become the fifth man in the Open era to win three consecutive major titles. He will play the winner of a later match between Milos Raonic and Lleyton Hewitt in the fourth round.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whom Djokovic beat at Melbourne Park for his first Grand Slam title in 2008, also hardly broke sweat in beating Frederico Gil of Portugal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

Kei Nishikori, meanwhile, advanced to the round of 16 of the Australian Open for the first time in his career with a four-set victory over Frenchman Julien Benneteau.

Nishikori dropped the first set 6-4 but took the next three 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in a third-round match that lasted nearly 3 hours, 30 minutes.

The 22-year-old will next play sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whom he defeated in a warmup event in Melbourne last week.

"I'm so happy to win," said Nishikori. "I'm glad I was able to win a close match, especially after my opponent had taken control of the match early."

Nishikori became the first Japanese man to win three matches in the main draw of the Australian Open since Jiro Sato in 1932. He has reached the last 16 in a Grand Slam tournament for the second time and first since the 2008 U.S. Open.

"My opponent was very aggressive, but I tried to find a way to turn the tables," Nishikori said. "I just had to focus on one point at a time."

On the women's side, two Wimbledon winners — Petra Kvitova and Maria Sharapova — advanced, but two top 10 players went out.

Seventh-seeded Vera Zvonareva was beaten 7-6 (9-7), 6-1 by fellow Russian Ekaterina Makerova. No. 9 Marion Bartoli lost 6-3, 6-3 to Zheng Jie of China, a former Australian Open semifinalist.

Sharapova was tested for the first time and still came out with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Germany's Angelique Kerber.

The 2008 champion won her first two matches 6-0, 6-1 and has lost five games in reaching the fourth round, but though the scoreline on Saturday made it look easy enough, Sharapova was given a full workout in a 56-minute second set, with many games going to deuce.

After clinching the victory with a forehand winner, Sharapova showed her relief by clenching her fist and screeching "come on!"

"She certainly stepped up in the second set," Sharapova said. "She reached the semifinals at the U.S. Open last year so she's been on the big stage before and I knew she could produce some really good tennis."

She next plays No. 14 Sabine Lisicki, who beat two-time major winner Svetlana Kuznetsova 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Sharapova and Kvitova both have a chance of claiming the No. 1 ranking at the end of the tournament. They could play each other in the semifinals, although Kvitova insisted she hasn't looked that far ahead.

"I don't know who lost and who win," the Wimbledon champion said. "No, really, for me doesn't care."

Kvitova reached the round of 16 when Maria Kirilenko retired with a left thigh injury while trailing 6-0, 1-0 after 38 minutes of their third-round match.

Kvitova next faces Ana Ivanovic, who beat unseeded American Vania King 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round for the first time since she reached the final here in 2008.

That was the same year the 24-year-old Serb won the French Open for her only Grand Slam title, and also claimed the top ranking.

Also Saturday, Serena Williams was so dominant in her 6-1, 6-1 third-round win over Greta Arn that there's probably only one shot she'll remember more than most.

At 5-0 and a point from the first set, Williams lined up in the ideal position for overhead but then completely shanked it, spraying the ball wide. She screamed and put a hand over her face.

Arn saved another set point before holding serve for the first time. Williams responded by winning the next five games before Arn held again. The match ended in 59 minutes, on consecutive double-faults by Arn.

In the women's doubles second round, Ayumi Morita and Rika Fujiwara outlasted Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, coming back from 5-2 down in the final set.

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Nishikori reaches Eastbourne semis

Eastbourne England — Kei Nishikori advanced to the semifinals of the AEGON International, a final grass-court tuneup for Wimbledon, with a morale-boosting 6-2, 6-3 victory Thursday over Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic.

Against the player who routed top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the previous round, Nishikori converted five of 10 break points while saving nine of 11 break points on his serve.

"I feel good about my tennis this week," Nishikori said. "I played two good matches today. On grass, I was making a lot of unforced errors from the baseline until last year. But I've been hitting the ball patiently and winning points this year."

The 21-year-old, ranked 59th in the world, will next play third-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia.

Earlier Thursday, Nishikori beat Germany's Rainer Schuettler 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in his second-round match that had been suspended by rain Wednesday.

The Wimbledon Championships are scheduled for June 20-July 3.

Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event in which Nishikori has not won a match.

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