Tennis Capsules: Overworked Safin reaches quarters at L.A. Open

LOS ANGELES — Marat Safin, playing for the fourth time in three days, summoned enough energy to beat Ernests Gulbis 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the L.A. Tennis Open on Wednesday.

Safin, who played an exhibition match against Pete Sampras on Monday and beat Robby Ginepri the following night, also teamed with Igor Kunitsyn to win a first-round doubles match on Monday.

The win over Gulbis put the two-time Grand Slam champion into his first quarterfinal of the year and earned him at least a day off from singles play.

He will meet the winner of Wednesday night’s match between Tommy Haas, the top seed and two-time event champion, and Jesse Levine on Friday.

Also advancing to the quarterfinals on Wednesday was John Isner, who overcame an injury late in the second-set tiebreaker to beat Marcos Baghdatis, 6-3, 7-6 (11). Qualifier Carsten Ball moved on with a 6-4, 1-0 victory over No. 3 seed Dmitry Tursunov, who was unable to continue in the second set due to a left ankle injury.

The 6-foot-9 Isner twisted his left ankle and collapsed on the court after trying to reverse direction on a forehand that gave Baghdatis an 11-10 lead in the tiebreaker.

Baghdatis was the first to reach Isner and hovered over him until a trainer arrived. Isner got to his feet after several minutes, but was limping noticeably and unable to put much weight on the left ankle and foot while serving.

The injury seemed to affect Baghdatis more than Isner, though.

"He missed a second-serve return (to make it 11-all), something he hadn’t done really all match, and I hit a forehand as hard as I could and closed my eyes and it went in, right off the line," said Isner, who won on his fifth match point when Baghdatis hit a backhand long. "I was extremely fortunate to get through that match."

Isner and Ball are scheduled to meet in Friday’s quarterfinals. Isner was supposed to play doubles with Sam Querrey later Wednesday, but pulled out as a precaution. He will have Thursday off.

"It’s huge," he said. "I can use that to recoup and see how it feels."

It will be the fourth quarterfinal of the year and the second in two weeks for Isner, and the first on the ATP Tour for Ball, an Australian who lives in nearby Newport Beach, Calif.

Sharapova advances into Bank of West quarterfinals

STANFORD, Calif. — Maria is back.

Maria Sharapova took what she learned from a clumsy early win and turned it into a sharp, emphatic victory over fellow Russian Nadia Petrovaon on Wednesday in a second-round match at the $700,000 WTA Premier Bank of the West Classic.

Sharapova needed just over an hour to beat 10th-ranked and fifth-seeded Petrova 6-1, 6-2, after a three-set win over Japan’s Ai Sugiyama on Monday.

"I knew what I had to improve upon," Sharapova said. "I started that first match lousy. This time the goal was to get a better start."

Sharapova, who played her 17th match since returning to the court from a nine-month layoff due to right shoulder surgery, also had a pretty finish.

"I was aggressive the whole way through," she said. "I didn’t have many letdowns and even when I made unforced errors I stayed with it."

The former world No. 1 player improved to 13-4 on the season and beat Petrova for the seventh time in eight meetings.

Sharapova was pushed to three sets in their last match at the French Open.

"This is the easiest score line I’ve had against her," Sharapova said. "Most of the time we go three sets. She’s explosive and always goes for her shot."

In another second round match, Samantha Stosur downed Monica Niculescu, 6-1, 7-5.

Serena and Venus Williams warmed up for their second round singles matches with an efficient 6-1, 6-0 doubles victory over Liga Dekmeijere and Julie Ditty.

Britain’s Anne Keothavong, who left her doubles match after crashing into a fence Tuesday night, is out for the rest of the season. Tests on Wednesday morning revealed a severe left knee sprain.

Federer wants to play in Davis Cup playoff

GENEVA — Roger Federer reportedly wants to play in Switzerland’s Davis Cup playoff against Italy in September.

Severin Luethi, part of Federer’s coaching team, said the top-ranked player told him in May and again at Wimbledon that he intended to play in Italy.

"Nothing is definite yet, but there’s a good chance that our best players will be there," said Luethi in Wednesday’s edition of Lausanne-based daily Le Matin. "I have to talk with him at the end of the week."

In March, Federer sat out Switzerland’s 4-1 loss to the United States in the first round of the World Group because of a back injury.

The Swiss face Italy in a playoff at Genoa on Sept. 18-20 to stay in the elite 16-team group that has a chance to win the 2010 title.

Federer will be 29 when next year’s final is played, with few chances left to fulfill his ambition of winning a first Davis Cup title for Switzerland.

"Even if we haven’t been given an easy opponent, Federer was happy he didn’t have to play at the other end of the world," said Luethi, the team captain.

Federer is taking a break after his wife Mirka gave birth to twin girls, Charlene Riva and Myla Rose, last week. He is scheduled to return at a tournament starting Aug. 10 in Montreal.

"If the twins are in good health, I don’t see any problem," Luethi said of Federer playing against Italy.

The best-of-five series against Italy is to be played on outdoor clay courts. It begins five days after the men’s singles final of the U.S. Open, where Federer is the five-time defending champion.

Federer would likely team up with the 24th-ranked Stanislas Wawrinka to play singles and doubles against the Italians.

Davydenko advances to 2nd round at Croatia Open