Lisicki survives raft of Auckland upsets

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- No. 1-seeded Sabine Lisicki won in three sets but five seeded players lost second-round matches Wednesday at the ASB Classic tennis tournament in New Zealand.

Lisicki needed nearly 2 1/2 hours to finish off a 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-3 win over Mona Barthel. Lisicki had seven aces but also seven double faults and lost her serve seven times. She kept in the match with seven breaks of her own, with four coming in the third set.

Third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova took 64 percent of the points in a 6-1, 6-1 romp over Christina McHale and No. 4-seeded Flavia Pennetta was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Elena Baltacha in just more than an hour.

But the other seeded players Wednesday all ran into problems. Lucia Hradecka ousted No. 2-seeded Peng Shuai 6-4, 6-2 behind an eight-ace attack while Angelique Kerber beat fifth-seeded Julia Goerges 6-2, 6-3 in 61 minutes.

Also, Elena Vesnina stopped No. 6-seeded Roberta Vinci 6-3, 6-4; Sara Errani took out seventh-seeded Yanina Wickmayer 4-6, 6-1, 6-1; and Zheng Jie had six breaks in a 6-0, 6-2 victory over No. 8-seeded Monica Niculescu.

Lisicki will go against Kerber in the quarterfinals with a Pennetta-Vesnina matchup also in that half of the draw. Kuznetsova plays Errani and Zheng draws Hradecka in the other quarterfinals.