Kerber reaches quarters

BRISBANE — In the 12 months since her previous trip to the Brisbane International, Angelique Kerber won her first two Grand Slam titles and supplanted Serena Williams as No. 1 in women's tennis. For two sets Wednesday night, Kerber dominated as the top-seeded player should. Between those sets, she struggled with her serve against the gritty determination of local wild-card entry Ash Barty, the 2011 Wimbledon junior champion who spent nearly two years out of tennis pursuing a career in cricket following her previous appearance at the Brisbane International in 2014. Kerber closed out a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 win with an ace, her fifth of the match, to progress to a quarterfinal match against sixth-seeded Elina Svitolina — the only player who beat both the No. 1-ranked women (Kerber and Williams) in 2016. "I'm so, so happy to be back in Australia - that was my breakthrough last year," Kerber said. "I'm feeling good. I mean, I have great memories from last year. Of course it was a completely different situation like 12 months ago, but to being here, starting here, that's a good thing, I think.” On the men's side, second-seeded Stan Wawrinka and No. 3 Kei Nishikori advanced. Wawrinka, the US Open champion, beat Viktor Troicki 7-6 (5), 6-4 in his debut match at the tournament to move into the quarterfinals against Kyle Edmund. From 2014-16, Wawrinka won the Chennai tournament in India without dropping a set. Nishikori was rusty against Jared Donaldson but found enough to hold off the American qualifier 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Eighth-seeded David Ferrer didn't make it that far, saving four match points on serve late in the third set before losing to Australian wild-card entry Jordan Thompson 4-6, 7-5, 7-5. Sixth-seeded Lucas Pouille was trailing Edmund 6-3, 3-1 when he retired from their second-round match because of blisters. A day after becoming the first player born in the 2000s to win a main draw match at an elite WTA event, Destanee Aiava lost to two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-3 in the women's second round. Kuznetsova will play French Open champion and fourth-seeded Garbine Muguruza in the quarterfinals. Second-seeded Dominika Cibulkova rallied from a set and a break down to beat Zhang Shuai 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in her first competitive match since winning the season-ending WTA Finals.