• WTA

Errani crumbles on bad day for third seeds

Sara Errani was the shock loser of the day at the Apia International in Sydney, as the third seed was thrashed by Dominika Cibulkova in the semi-finals.

The Slovakian dominated her higher-ranked Italian opponent, dropping just three games as she rolled to a 6-2 6-1 success on a day once again affected by sweltering temperatures.

The other seeds in action on Wednesday seemed less affected by conditions, however, with top seed Agnieszka Radwanska and second seed Angelique Kerber both claiming straight sets triumphs against Roberta Vinci and Sventlana Kuznetsova respectively.

Radwanska was made to work in her eventual 6-4 7-5 victory, with Kerber edging her Russian rival by a similar scoreline, 6-3 7-5.

"She pretty much doesn't miss and everything goes back to the other side - she's not giving up any free points," Radwanska said of Vinci. "So today I was really trying to play more aggressive and come to the net more often, even serve and volley sometimes - I think that was the key of the match today."

With the Australian Open looming, the Pole added: "I think I've had a lot of good matches already before Melbourne. I'm very happy I'm playing my best tennis from the beginning of the year. I can't complain."

In the day's other contest, fourth seed Na Li was pushed the distance against Madison Keys - but the former French Open champion's experience eventually won out as she clinched a 4-6 7-6(2) 6-2 win.

Meanwhile at the Hobart International, another third seed was knocked out of the competition - Klara Zakopalova falling in the second round to Tsvetana Pironkova.

Elsewhere, there were wins for home favourite Jarmila Gajdosova, Kristen Flipkens and Monica Niculescu - who came from behind to defeat Shuai Peng 3-6 6-4 6-4.

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