Defending champion Juan Martin del Potro came from a set down to dump top seed Fabio Fognini out of the APIA Sydney International and enter the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
del Potro, a one-time world No. 4 but whose ranking has dived to 338 due to his inactivity for 10 months, defeated the world No.18 Italian Fognini 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
The Argentine is playing in the Sydney tournament on a wildcard for his first event since last February following an injury-ravaged 2014 season during which he had surgery on his left wrist.
del Potro grew stronger through the match after receiving treatment on his wrist from the trainer in the opening set, and he looked close to his best form in the deciding set to eliminate Fognini.
The former US Open champion will meet Kazakhstan qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin, who upset Uruguayan sixth seed Pablo Cuevas 7-5, 7-5.
Second seed David Goffin also followed Fognini out of the tournament, after losing to Italian Simone Bolelli.
Bolelli downed the Belgian 6-3, 6-3 and next faces Serbian qualifier Viktor Troicki in the last eight.
Pironkova keeps winning Meanwhile, Tsvetana Pironkova stretched her Sydney International winning streak to 14 matches with a straight sets victory over Barbora Zahlavova Strycova to reach the semifinals.
The Bulgarian, who again had to fight her way through qualifying to reach the main draw, defeated the world No.25 Czech 6-4, 6-1.
Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna scored contrasting victories with their respective partners to storm into the semifinals of the doubles.
Sania and her American partner Bethanie-Mattek Sands shocked second seeds Martina Hingis and Flavia Penneta 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
Sania had to pair with the American since her regular partner Su-Wei Hsieh was playing singles qualifiers at the Australian Open and the decision to again join forces with her former partner Mattek-Sands has proved spot on since Sania has succeeded to reach the semifinals in Sydney for the first time.
At the ATP event, Bopanna and his third seed partner Daniel Nestor beat Italian pair of Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 7-5, 6-3 to make it to the semifinals.
Meanwhile, at the ATP Heineken Open in Auckland, fourth seeds Leander Paes and Raven Klaasen won a battle of nerves against Jamie Murray and John Peers to advance to the quarterfinals.
Paes and his South African partner recorded a hard-fought 7-6(3), 4-6, 10-6 win in one hour and 26 minutes.
The ATP Heineken Open continued to lose its main drawcards as Spain’s Tommy Robredo pulled out with an injury and top seed Ernests Gulbis was eliminated by a qualifier.
The results:
At Sydney: APIA Sydney International: Men: Second round: Mikhail Kukushkin bt Pablo Cuevas 7-5, 7-5; Juan Martin del Potro bt Fabio Fognini 4-6, 6-2, 6-2; Simone Bolelli bt David Goffin 6-3, 6-3; Leonardo Mayer bt Jerzy Janowicz 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(3); Julien Benneteau bt Vasek Pospisil 7-6(3), 6-3; Viktor Troicki bt Pablo Andujar 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; Gilles Muller bt Jeremy Chardy 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-4; Bernard Tomic bt Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-4.
First round: Janowicz bt Nick Kyrgios 6-1, 6-7(6), 7-6(5).
Doubles: Quarterfinals: Rohan Bopanna & Daniel Nestor bt Simone Bolelli & Fabio Fognini 7-5, 6-3.
Women: Quarterfinals: Karolina Pliskova bt Carla Suarez Navarro 4-6, 6-4, 6-0; Tsvetana Pironkova bt Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-4, 6-1; Petra Kvitova bt Jarmila Gajdosova 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; Angelique Kerber bt Garbine Muguruza 0-6, 6-1, 6-4. Second round: Angelique Kerber bt Daria Gavrilova 6-7(6), 7-6(2), 6-3; Jarmila Gajdosova bt Dominika Cibulkova 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Doubles: Quarterfinals: Sania Mirza & Bethanie-Mattek Sands bt Martina Hingis & Flavia Penneta 6-3, 6-3.
At Auckland: ATP Heineken Open:Second round: Jiri Vesely bt Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 3-6, 6-1; Adrian Mannarino bt Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 2-1 (retd.); Kevin Anderson bt Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(6), 6-1; Steve Johnson bt Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-1; Albert Ramos-Vinolas bt Lu Yen-Hsun 6-2, 6-4; Alejandro Falla bt Kenny De Schepper 6-2, 6-4; Lucas Pouille bt Michael Venus 7-5, 6-4; Donald Young bt Diego Schwartzman 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Doubles: Raven Klaasen & Leander Paes bt Jamie Murray & John Peers 7-6(3), 4-6, 10-6.
At Melbourne: ATP Kooyong Classic: First round: Kei Nishikori bt Jordan Thompson 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(4); Fernando Verdasco bt Gilles Simon 6-2, 7-6(3); Alexandr Dolgopolov bt Filip Krajinovic 6-4, 6-3; Richard Gasquet bt Feliciano Lopez 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-2.
Corrections and Clarifications:
>>“Sydney Open: del Potro rallies to oust Fognini” (Sport, Jan. 15, 2015) said Bolelli meets Serbian qualifier Viktor Troicki in the last four . It should have been last eight .
