Clijsters lands in Sydney semis

SYDNEY, Australia -- Two-time champion Kim Clijsters was an easy quarterfinal winner Wednesday at the Sydney International tennis event, a final Australian Open tuneup.

The third-seeded two-time reigning U.S. Open champ Clijsters leveled seventh- seeded Belarusian Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-2 on the hardcourts at Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre.

The three-time U.S. Open titlist Clijsters, who captured this Sydney event in 2003 and 2007, will face Russian Alisa Kleybanova in Thursday's semifinals. Kleybanova snuck past Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. Cibulkova ousted world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki here on Tuesday.

The other semi will pit eighth-seeded Chinese Li Na versus Serbian teenager Bojana Jovanovski. Li overcame former top-five star Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, while the 19-year-old qualifier Jovanovski handled Italian veteran Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-1 on Day 4. Pennetta upset 2010 Wimbledon and U.S. Open runner-up Vera Zvonareva in the second round.

Querrey, del Potro exit Sydney

Sydney, Australia -- Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov surprised top-seeded American Sam Querrey and former U.S. Open champ Juan Martin del Potro came up a loser in second-round action Wednesday at the $450,000 Sydney International, a final Australian Open tune-up.

Dolgopolov actually took part in two matches Wednesday. He needed to finish a first-round match against Bernard Tomic that was delayed by rain, and posted a 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 6-2 victory against the Aussie.

He had a considerably easier time against Querrey, recording a 6-4, 6-3 win to reach the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, German Florian Mayer notched a 6-2, 7-5 win over the former top- five star del Potro, a wild card this week. Del Potro is coming back from right wrist surgery, and participated in just three tournaments last year because of an injury suffered at the 2010 Aussie Open.

Frenchman Gilles Simon pulled off the same trick as Dolgopolov on Day 3, as he closed out a 6-0, 6-3 first-round victory over eighth-seeded Yen-Hsun Lu of Taipei, then beat Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil 6-1, 6-3 in second-round play.

Third-seeded Ernests Gulbis survived, but needed three sets to do so against Russian qualifier Igor Andreev. The Latvian Gulbis triumphed 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in round two.

Also on Wednesday, fourth-seeded Serbian Viktor Troicki got past Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2, 6-3 and fifth-seeded Richard Gasquet of France was a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 second-round winner against Italian Andreas Seppi.

Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky ousted seventh-seeded Spaniard Guillermo Garcia- Lopez 6-3, 6-4 and Italian Potito Starace got past Lukasz Kubot of Poland 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-3.

Thursday's quarters will pit Gulbis against Stakhovsky, Troicki versus Gasquet, Mayer against Starace and Dolgopolov versus Simon.

Ferrer, Isner advance in Auckland

AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Top-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer and reigning champion John Isner of the United States were a pair of second-round winners Wednesday at the $450,000 Heineken Open, a final Australian Open tune-up.

The gritty Ferrer outlasted German Tobias Kamke 3-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4, while a third-seeded Isner overcame Dutchman Robin Haase 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 on the hardcourts at ASB Tennis Centre. Kamke was the 2010 ATP World Tour Newcomer of the Year.

Ferrer, the 2007 Auckland titlist, will next face another former champion here, 2008 winner Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany. The eighth-seeded Kohlschreiber snuck past Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Isner's quarterfinal opponent will be sixth-seeded former top-five Argentine star David Nalbandian, who dismissed German Philipp Petzschner 6-3, 6-2 on Day 3.

Second-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro defeated Romanian Victor Hanescu 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) and will appear in the quarterfinals of this event for the second time in three years.

Colombian Santiago Giraldo upset fourth-seeded Spaniard Albert Montanes 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Giraldo's next opponent will be seventh-seeded Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, who beat 2007 Auckland runner-up Tommy Robredo 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

Rain wipes out Day 4 in Hobart

HOBART, Australia (Reuters) -- Seven second-round matches were postponed because of rain Wednesday at the $220,000 Hobart International tennis event, a final Australian Open tune-up.

Top-seeded Marion Bartoli of France was slated to meet Russian Elena Vesnina, but that bout was pushed back to Thursday on the hardcourts at Domain Tennis Centre.

Four other seeds were on the Wednesday schedule, including Italian Roberta Vinci, who was leading Brit Elena Baltacha 6-3 after one set when their match was suspended because of rain here on Tuesday.

Coach: Federer can win 20 grand slams

Swiss world number two Roger Federer could extend his record grand slam tally to 20 if he remains fit and motivated, according to his coach Paul Annacone.

"He can win every tournament he plays, he's probably not going to, but he can win every match he plays and there's not a lot of guys you can say that about," Annacone, a former coach of Pete Sampras and Briton Tim Henman, told the Australian Open website (www.australianopen.com).

"So if he can stay healthy and happy and eager I don't know what the end number would be, but is 20 realistic, sure, why not?"

Defending Australian Open champion Federer hired Annacone after his disappointing quarter-final exit at Wimbledon last year. He has credited the Californian for helping him mount a late-season resurgence, capped by victory over top-ranked rival Rafa Nadal to win the season-ending World Tour Finals.

Annacone, who works with Swiss coach Severin Luthi in the Federer camp, said he had not joined to teach Federer "how to slice bread" but had helped the Swiss on his strategy and motivation.

"He's not all of a sudden going to have a two-handed backhand," he said. "It's about combining the head, heart and talent components of a player, and understanding how they interact, the best way to match up against other players, and ultimately, the best way for them to keep having fun doing it, and the best way to try to get better.

"If you're not trying to get better you're getting worse, because everyone else is getting better. Roger is very eager to continue improving, so when you see that in someone who's won as much as he has, it's pretty incredible."

Federer, 29, will bid for his 17th grand slam at the Australian Open starting next Monday. He has been in ominous form, kicking off his season with victory at the Qatar Open where he improved with every match and thrashed Russian former top-10 player Nikolay Davydenko in the final.

"His last six months, he's been playing great tennis, had some down time with his family, rebounded last week winning Doha, he's ready to play," said Annacone.

"I don't think I would change much that he's done, his body feels good, his mind feels good, now it's just about getting out there and getting things going."