Kaia Kanepi stunned top seed Caroline Wozniacki 7-5 1-6 6-4 in the third round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
Top seed and defending champion falls to Kanepi in three sets
Kaia Kanepi came from behind in the third set to stun top seed Caroline Wozniacki 7-5 1-6 6-4 in the third round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
The unseeded Estonian surprisingly took the first set but then looked to be heading for defeat as the world number one turned things around by dominating the second and the start of the third.
Wozniacki broke in the first game of the deciding set before bolstering that advantage in the third as Kanepi dropped serve again, this time to love.
Any hopes of victory looked to be over for the 26-year-old but she struck back in fine style by breaking to love in the very next game and then got back on level terms in the eighth game behind her powerful forehand.
She then held to love to leave Wozniacki serving to stay in the match and the defending champion wilted under the pressure as another huge forehand wrapped up the win for Kanepi.
Agnieszka Radwanska awaits Kanepi in the quarter-finals after the pole fought back from a set down to defeat Jelena Jankovic 2-6 6-4 6-0.
Kirilenko through
Elsewhere, Maria Kirilenko continued her good run of form in Tokyo with a 6-3 6-1 victory over Ana Ivanovic in the third round.
The unseeded Russian, who had dumped out US Open champion Samantha Stosur a day earlier, never looked threatened by the 12th seed and former world number one.
After taking the first set, Kirilenko broke her opponent in the first game of the second and did not look back as she raced away to victory in one hour and 19 minutes.
Kirilenko will face compatriot Vera Zvonareva in the quarter-finals after the fourth seed claimed an easy 6-1 6-2 victory over Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic.
"To be honest, I was a little bit tired today when I woke up. I didn't have that much time to recover because we finished so late yesterday," Kirilenko said.
She added: "You do get more and more confident with each win. I've had so many tough matches against Vera."
Another Russian, second seed Maria Sharapova, needed two tie breaks to see off Julia Goerges of Germany 7-6 7-6 and book her place in the last eight.
Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova (Cze) eliminated Vania King after a 6-1 7-6 victory while third seed Victoria Azarenka claimed a 6-3 7-5 win over Klara Zakopalova.
