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Top-seeded Rafael Nadal reached the semifinals of the Japan Open by beating Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 7-6 (6), 6-3 Friday.

The defending champion was pushed early by the 53rd-ranked Giraldo, who forced a first-set tiebreaker at Ariake Colosseum. In the second set, the Spaniard broke early but Giraldo had a chance to break back late in the match.

“It was a tough first set. I thought I could play more relaxed in the second set,” Nadal said. “He is a very graceful player who can hit winners from everywhere.”

The Colombian earned a break point with Nadal serving for the match at 5-3, but the 10-time Grand Slam champion hit a passing winner to get to deuce and ended the match moments later.

“You are worried at 7-6, 5-3, break point against,” Nadal said. “The match can change. You never know in tennis.”

Nadal will next play fourth-seeded American Mardy Fish, who beat Bernard Tomic of Australia 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1.

“I need to be more aggressive with my forehand,” Nadal stated. “I was long and high today. I have to play more inside the court.”

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Andy Murray overcame an early break in the third set to beat Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 Wednesday and reach the second round of the Japan Open.

Murray trailed 3-1 in the final set, but he then held serve and soon broke back to level the score at 3-3 at a covered Ariake Colosseum. With rain falling from the morning, play on the outer courts was suspended.

“He played well under the conditions. It took me longer to find the range,” Murray said. “The hardest thing for me always is changing from playing outdoors to indoors.”

Murray, who won last weeks Thailand Open, struggled in the second set as the unseeded Baghdatis used a strong backhand and some clever drop shots to take the upper hand after losing the opening set.

“It was very tough. It was very long,” Murray said. “I did a lot of running in the first two sets.”

Playing primarily from the baseline, the Briton converted at crucial points down the stretch as Baghdatis appeared to tire and committed several unforced errors.

Baghdatis and Murray played earlier this year in Rotterdam, and the Cypriot won in straight sets on a hard court. Baghdatis still holds a 3-2 edge in five matches against Murray.

“He is a tough guy to play against,” Murray said. “He has a big serve. He can hurt you in many ways on the court.”

Earlier, Dmitry Tursunov of Russia beat sixth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 7-6 (6), 6-7 (3), 7-5. In the second round, fourth-seeded Mardy Fish of the United States beat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-2, 6-4.

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Top-seeded Rafael Nadal eased past Go Soeda of Japan 6-3, 6-2 Tuesday to reach the second round at the Japan Open.

Nadal broke Soeda with a perfect lob to close out the first set and wrapped up the victory in 1 hour, 30 minutes at Ariake Colosseum.

“Im really happy with my serve,” Nadal said. “The ball was a bit heavy. It was difficult for my topspin.”

The 10-time Grand Slam champion, who got in 85 percent of his first serves, will play Milos Raonic of Canada in the second round. Raonic beat Japanese wild card Yuichi Sugita 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (1) to advance.

“He (Raonic) is a dangerous player for me in the second round,” Nadal said. “He has one of the biggest serves on the tour.”

Third-seeded David Ferrer of Spain ousted Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-4, 6-3 in another first-round match. The fifth-ranked Ferrer saved two break points in the final game of the second set, before converting his first match point.

He also saved two break points at 2-2 in the second set before breaking in the next game with a crosscourt forehand winner.

Ivan Dodig of Croatia also advanced by ousting eighth-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (1). Dodig saved a match point in his final service game of the third set before dominating the tiebreaker.

Dodig will take on David Nalbandian of Argentina after the 2002 Wimbledon finalist routed Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-1.

In earlier first-round action, American Alex Bogomolov Jr. beat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-4, 6-4.

Second-seeded Andy Murray of Britain will meet Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in a first-round match on Wednesday.

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Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia defeated Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-4, 7-5 Sunday to win the Malaysian Open, capturing his first ATP World Tour title in his fifth final.

The 27-year-old Tipsarevic had been the only top-20 player without an ATP title.

The No. 3 seed clawed his way back into the match after trailing 0-3 in the first set to win in 2 hours, 6 minutes.

Tipsarevic ended a fine run by Baghdatis, a wild card entry who ousted three of the Malaysian Opens top-six seeds. Baghdatis, a former top-10 player, had been trying to revive his flagging season after starting the year ranked No. 20 but since falling 40 spots.

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Andre Agassi beat Jim Courier 8-5 on Saturday night to win the Champions Cup at TD Garden.

“Beating Jim is never easy, and it never has been,” Agassi said. “I got off to a good start tonight, and that was the difference. Jim and I have been competing against one another our whole lives, so it was our pleasure to be here in front of these fans tonight. Winning is a nice surprise.”

Agassi advanced to the final with a 7-5 victory over Ivan Lendl.

In the other semfinal, Courier beat Michael Chang 6-3.

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Serena Williams will miss the China Open after being left out of Fridays draw.

Williams had been expected to play, and organizers did not explain why she was not in the draw.

Williams lost to Sam Stosur in the U.S. Open final, but she won two tournaments heading into the final Grand Slam of the season and had been considered a favorite.

Maria Sharapova also pulled out of the tournament. She injured her left ankle this week at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

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Second-seeded Maria Sharapova was eliminated from the Pan Pacific Open on Thursday when she was forced to retire because of an injury in the first set of her quarterfinal match against Petra Kvitova.

With her Czech opponent leading 4-3 in the first set, Sharapova twisted her left ankle when serving in the eighth game. She limped to her chair and pulled out after speaking with her trainer.

“I hit a serve and then landed awkwardly on my left ankle,” said Sharapova, who went to a hospital for an MRI. “I felt a sharp pain and next thing I knew I was on the floor. It swelled up immediately and I knew there was no way I could continue.”

Thursdays quarterfinal was a rematch of this years Wimbledon final, where Kvitova beat Sharapova 6-3, 6-4 for her first major title.

“Its sad because we were both playing so well,” Kvitova said. “It was a great match but I could see [the ankle] was really big. Hopefully, she will be OK.”

Kvitova will now face fourth-ranked Vera Zvonareva of Russia, who defeated Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-3, in Fridays semifinals.

“I played her already three times, the last time in Madrid on clay when I beat her,” Kvitova said. “Shes a very good player. She has a great serve and hits the ball well so it will be a tough match.”

Zvonareva had five aces and improved to 6-0 in head-to-heads against the unseeded Kirilenko.

“Im really happy that my serve helped me today,” Zvonareva said. “The first serve was good and my second serve even caused her some problems, and that made a big difference.”

Kirilenko knocked out U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur on Tuesday and beat 12th-seeded Ana Ivanovic on Wednesday, but struggled with her serve against Zvonareva and was broken three times.

“Maria is a great player and a great fighter, and proved it by beating two tough opponents on her way to the quarterfinals,” Zvonareva said. “There is no secret to beating her. I just tried to make some shots that caused her some discomfort and was able to do that.”

Also, third-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus beat seventh-seeded Marion Bartoli of France 7-5, 6-0 to reach the final four. She will next face either Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland or Estonias Kaia Kanepi, who play later Thursday.

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Second-seeded Maria Sharapova won a hard-fought match 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) over 13th-seeded Julia Goerges of Germany on Wednesday to advance to the Pan Pacific Open quarterfinals.

The players swapped the lead more than once in the first set before Goerges forced the tiebreak, which was eventually won by Sharapova.

Sharapovas confidence grew as the second set progressed and she worked her way back from a 3-5 deficit to force a second tiebreak.

Maria Kirilenko of Russia also advanced with a 6-3, 6-1 victory against Serbias Ana Ivanovic, and seventh-seeded Marion Bartoli of France coasted to a 6-2, 6-1 victory against Chinas Peng Shuai.

Kirilenko, who knocked out U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur on Tuesday, broke her opponent in first game of the second set and never looked threatened by the 12th-ranked Ivanovic, who took a medical time out midway through the second set because of a sore back.

“To be honest, I was a little bit tired today when I woke up,” Kirilenko said. “I didnt have that much time to recover because we finished so late yesterday.”

Kirilenko broke Ivanovic again to go up 4-1 in the second set and took advantage of her opponents sixth double fault in the last game to close out the match in 1 hour, 19 minutes at Ariake Colosseum.

Kirilenko will next face compatriot and fourth-seeded Vera Zvonareva, who defeated Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2.

“You do get more and more confident with each win,” said Kirilenko, who has yet to beat Zvonareva in five matches. “Ive had so many tough matches against Vera. Hopefully, tomorrow will be another tough one.”

Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark faces Kaia Kenepi of Estonia later Wednesday.

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Maria Kirilenko eliminated U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur from the Pan Pacific Open on Tuesday, beating the Australian 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the second round.

The sixth-seeded Stosur, playing for the first time since winning her first career Grand Slam title in New York, trailed in the second set but rallied to break her Russian opponent and take the final two games to even the match.

The two traded breaks in the third set but Kirilenko broke again to make it 5-4 before serving out the match.

“You never want to go out in the first round after the week I had at the U.S. Open,” Stosur said. “Its hard to explain how you could do well at the U.S. Open and then not do well here. I came as prepared as I could.”

Stosur beat Kirilenko in the fourth round of the U.S. Open.

“I just played her a couple of weeks ago, so I knew what to do,” Kirilenko said. “Every time you win a Grand Slam, its tough to win the next tournament.”

Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark advanced despite being pushed by unseeded Jarmila Gajdosova, eventually winning 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in the second round.

Third-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus also advanced, beating Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 6-1, 6-3. Azarenka, who has won two WTA Tour titles this season, saved nine break points and won 72 percent of her first serves.

Also, ninth-seeded Agnieskza Radwanska defeated qualifier Angelique Kerber of Germany 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 12th-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia beat Laura Robson of Britain 7-5, 6-4, and 13th-seeded Julia Goerges of Germany eliminated Greta Arn of Hungary 6-2, 6-1.

In the first round, 10th-seeded Peng Shuai beat qualifier Jill Craybas of the United States 6-2, 6-0, Christina McHale of the United States defeated Tamira Paszek of Austria 7-6 (1), 6-3, and Coco Vandeweghe of the United States won her rain-delayed match that started Monday over Zheng Jie of China 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-2.

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Maria Sharapova defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand 6-2, 7-5 Monday in a second-round match at the Pan Pacific Open played under the roof because of rain.

After taking the first set in 30 minutes behind a blistering forehand, the second-seeded Russian quickly went up 3-0 in the second set before faltering. Tanasugarn suddenly came to life, breaking in the fourth game and winning five of the next seven games to make it 5-5.

Sharapova dug in during the 11th game, however, breaking again and then closing the match with an ace at a covered Ariake Colosseum.

“I served really well today,” Sharapova said. “It was important for me to serve well because she reads the ball really well. I had a bit of letdown in the second set. She started playing really well. I was glad I was able to come back and win it in two sets.”

Also advancing were seventh-seeded Marion Bartoli of France and two top Serbians, eighth-seeded Jelena Jankovic and 12th-seeded Ana Ivanovic.

Sharapova said the players are happy to support this tournament following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

“The commitment the players have shown is incredible,” she said. “With nearly a full draw, I think the players have shown their dedication.”

The annual WTA Tour tournament is normally outdoors, but late-morning rain forced the closure of the roof over the main court and suspension of play on outdoor courts.

Bartoli defeated Ayumi Morita of Japan 6-3, 0-6, 6-3, and Jankovic beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2.

Bartoli prevailed in a baseline battle despite a second-set whitewash. She overpowered Morita with a strong backhand in a final set featuring service breaks in the first three games. Morita committed several unforced errors in the third set, leading to her defeat. Serving to stay in the match, Morita staved off four match points before succumbing.

Qualifier Mandy Minella of Luxembourg rallied past Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, and Ivanovic defeated qualifier Anastasia Rodionova of Australia 6-4, 6-0.

Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, seeded first in the $2 million tournament, has a first-round bye and on Tuesday plays the winner of the match between Rebecca Marino of Canada and Jarmila Gajdosova of Australia.

U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur of Australia also opens Tuesday, facing Maria Kirilenko of Russia or Erika Sema of Japan.

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