• China Open

Wozniacki tames Kanepi in China

Caroline Wozniacki was strong on serve against Kaia Kanepi © PA Photos

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Caroline Wozniacki avenged her defeat to Kaia Kanepi in Tokyo last week by beating the Estonian in straight sets in the China Open.

The world No. 1 is one of the hardest workers on tour and she will have studied the tapes of her defeat to Kanepi. Her planning clearly paid off as after feeling her way into the match she grabbed a vital break in the first set before taking the second in a breaker.

Kanepi matched Wozniacki for much of the first set, but threw in a tepid effort in the eighth game - which came directly after the world No. 1's father had come on court for a pep talk.

The second set followed a similar path to the first, with Kanepi battling hard only to drop her serve in the fifth game. Wozniacki failed to close out the match at the first time of asking. She squandered a match point when serving for victory in the 10th game, as Kanepi was rewarded for some blistering hitting.

Kanepi forced the set into a tiebreak but she found Wozniacki in belligerent mood as she retrieved ball after ball and pounced when Kanepi sent a backhand into the net on the eighth point. The Estonian wilted and Wozniacki closed out a 6-3 7-6(3) win in an hour and 46 minutes.

Wozniacki will meet Flavia Pennetta in the quarter finals after the Italian battled her way past Dominika Cibulkova in three sets. Pennetta crashed 33 winners to her opponent's 10 in the 6-1 4-6 6-4 win.

Maria Kirilenko, who took out US Open champion Sam Stosur earlier in the week, carried the momentum into her clash with Tamira Paszek as she cruised to 6-1 6-2 win.

Up next for Kirilenko is a meeting with Monica Niculecsu, who overcame fellow qualifier Virginie Razzano 4-6 6-1 6-2.

The 11th seed Agnieszka Radwanska set up a clash with Ana Ivanovic after cruising to a 6-4 6-2 win over Sofia Arvidsson.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.