Sharapova rallies to reach Tokyo quarters

TOKYO, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Maria Sharapova rallied for a third-round win Wednesday at the $2 million Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament in Tokyo.

Sharapova, unseeded at the hard-court tournament as she continues her comeback from shoulder surgery, defeated Alisa Kleybanova 2-6, 6-2, 6-2. Sharapova piled up seven service breaks, with three each in the second and third sets. She dropped serve five times but only twice after the first set.

Jelena Jankovic, at No. 7 the highest seed remaining in the tournament, also advanced to the quarterfinals. She was leading 6-1, 3-0 when Elena Vesnina withdrew with a left leg problem.

Jankovic's quarterfinals opponent will be 14th-seeded Marion Bartoli who survived a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 battle with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova that took more than three hours.

Also Wednesday, eighth-seeded Victoria Azarenka stopped Lucia Safarova 7-5, 6-4, No. 11-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska beat Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; 15th-seeded Li Na got by Kateryna Bondarenko 2-6, 7-5, 6-3; Iveta Benesova won 7-5, 6-2 over Kai-Chen Chang; and Magdalena Rybarikova topped Aleksandra Wozniak 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.

In addition to the Jankovic-Bartoli match, the tournament quarterfinals have Sharapova playing Benesova, Azarenka meeting Li and Radwanska facing Rybarikova.