Cibulkova beats Suarez Navarro to reach quarters in Tokyo

TOKYO (AP) — Defending champion Ana Ivanovic of Serbia came from a break down in both sets to defeat Camila Giorgi of Italy 7-5, 6-2 Thursday and reach the quarterfinals of the Toray Pan-Pacific Open.

Ivanovic, who received a bye to the second round, was broken in the first game of the match but broke right back and took Giorgi’s serve again to close out the first set.

The second-seeded Ivanovic then bounced back from 2-0 down in the second, winning the next six games to set up a quarterfinal with Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia. Cibulkova beat Ivanovic in the first round of the U.S. Open this year, and beat sixth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday.

However, she then withdrew from a doubles match with an acute gastrointestinal illness and an official WTA injury report rated her chances of being ready for the singles quarterfinal as “questionable.”

Ivanovic, appearing in Tokyo for the 10th time, said she is hoping her opponent will be fit.

“Definitely I would prefer a match, especially having a tough match against her in the U.S. Open,” Ivanovic said. “I really feel like I’m ready for revenge.”

Cibulkova improved her record to 3-0 against Suarez Navarro, who had not won a match in seven tournaments before beating Kateryna Bondarenko here in the first round.

Seventh-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska also reached the final eight by beating Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4, 6-1 and will play Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, who eliminated the last remaining Japanese player by defeating Kurumi Nara 6-2, 6-4.

The 11th-ranked Pliskova served 10 aces and rallied from 4-1 down in the second set to clinch the match.