Berdych flattens Falla to reach Tokyo quarters

Tokyo: Former champion Tomas Berdych comfortably beat Colombia’s Alejandro Falla 6-3 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals of the Japan Open on Thursday.

Czech Berdych, who won the Japan Open in 2008, played well within himself, blasting nine aces as he rolled through in one hour, 18 minutes to notch his 50th win of the year.

“I served well and took my chances,” the second seed told reporters after moving another step closer to qualifying for the season-ending World Tour Finals.

“I’m not there yet,” added the world number six, referring to the next month’s eight-man London shootout.

“I need to keep playing well and stick to my tennis. Not talk about it but bring my best game and that’s the best way to qualify.”

Berdych will face either Spain’s Tommy Robredo or local favourite Kei Nishikori, the eighth seed, in the last eight of the $1.2 million hardcourt event.

Third seed Janko Tipsarevic also booked his spot in the quarter-finals with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Swiss qualifier Marco Chiudinelli.

The Serb faces sixth seed Milos Raonic next after Tipsarevic’s compatriot Viktor Troicki retired against the Canadian with a calf injury at 3-0 down in the first set.

US Open champion and Tokyo title holder Andy Murray enjoyed a day off before the top seed takes on Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka in their last-eight encounter on Friday.

On Wednesday, Novak Djokovic was happy to reach the China Open quarter-finals in straight sets as he targets his fourth title of the season and presses his bid to be crowned year-end world number one.

The Serb, second in the world rankings behind Roger Federer, dismantled unseeded Argentine Carlos Berlocq 6-1, 6-3 to extend his unbeaten record at an event he won in 2009 and 2010 and missed last year through injury.

Djokovic is playing his first tournament since losing last month’s US Open final to Andy Murray, and looked ring-rusty in the first round when he was taken to three sets by Germany’s Michael Berrer.

But the five-time Grand Slam-winner, 25, won the first set against Berlocq in only 25 minutes and raced to a 5-0 lead in the second. He then lost three games carelessly and was relieved to wrap it up without playing a third set.

“It was an interesting couple of games at the end of the match where he came up with some good shots and we played some entertaining points,” Djokovic said.

“I should have done a better job in winning those games and winning this match earlier but in the end I won in straight sets. That’s what matters the most.”

The top seed will play Austrian Jurgen Melzer in the next round. Melzer knocked out sixth seed Alexandr Dolgopolov in three sets.

Djokovic’s main challenger for the title, third seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, enjoyed an easy passage when his opponent Nikolay Davydenko pulled out ahead of their match citing an injury.