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Wozniacki, Kuznetsova, Jankovic advance in Dubai

Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki came back from 5-1 down in the second set to beat Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-2, 7-6 (2) in the second round of the Dubai Championships.

Wozniacki, at a career-high world No. 3 ranking, impressively rallied to 5-5 then shot through the tiebreaker.

Also advancing were second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, No. 4 Victoria Azarenka, No. 6 Jelena Jankovic, and No. 8 Li Na.

Wozniacki said her focus relaxed after winning the first set against Cibulkova.

‘Once I started to hit more freely and hit with better depth and a little more aggressively, I got the advantage,’ she said. ‘I just kept fighting. Even though I was down 5-1, I kept playing for every point, and that paid off in the end.’

Next up will be Shahar Peer, who continued her notable run a year after being denied entry into the tournament because Israel had no diplomatic relations with the Emirates. A day after ousting seeded Yanina Wickmayer, Peer eliminated 2009 Dubai finalist Virginie Razzano of France 6-2, 6-2.

Kuznetsova moved into the third round when Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain withdrew with a lower back injury, and Azarenka was leading US Open quarterfinalist Kateryna Bondarenko 4-1 when the latter retired with a sprained left knee.

Jankovic, who lives in Dubai, took more than two hours to account for Aravane Rezai of France 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, and Li was pushed all the way by Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain to win 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-4.

Also through were Flavia Pennetta of Italy, Marion Bartoli of France, Vera Zvonareva of Russia, Olga Govortsova of Belarus, who beat 14^th-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-4, 6-4, Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany, and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia.