Sydney: Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki came back from 4-0 down in the final set to beat Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 on Tuesday and advance to the quarter-finals of the Sydney International.
The match ended on a line call that was ruled in and later, on video review, shown to be out by a few millimeters, giving Wozniacki victory on her second match point.
Wozniacki, who was No. 1 for all but one week of last year, has achieved the top ranking without having won a Grand Slam. The Danish player's best finish in four appearances at the Australian Open, which begins next Monday, was the semi-finals last year.
"I thought I had lost the match," Wozniacki said of her big third-set deficit on Tuesday. "I decided to play free, not care about the score anymore, and it worked out."
Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, ranked No. 2 and who could overtake Wozniacki for the top spot with a win at Sydney, also struggled against an unseeded opponent before advancing to the quarter-finals with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win over Alexandre Dulgheru of Romania.
Kvitova used a strong serve to set up an easy crosscourt forehand at the net to the open corner for the win on her first match point.
In other second-round matches, French Open champion Li Na beat Channelle Scheepers of South Africa 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 and seventh-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland defeated Andrea Petkovic of Germany 7-5, 6-4.
Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, beaten by Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in the Brisbane International final last Saturday, defeated 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy 7-5, 6-1. On Monday, Schiavone beat US Open winner Samantha Stosur of Australia in the first round.
Former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova withdrew from her match against Lucie Safarova while down 6-1, 2-0, citing heat illness.
In men's matches, eighth-seeded Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic defeated Xavier Malisse of Belgium 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4 and Julien Benneteau of France beat Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-4.
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