Published: Wednesday January 9, 2013 MYT 2:19:00 PM
Radwanska, Cibulkova into Sydney semis
SYDNEY: Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska clinched a seventh straight victory to reach the semi-finals of the Sydney International on Wednesday, as she builds towards next week's Australian Open.
The world number four and tournament top seed overcame Italian world number 16 Roberta Vinci, 6-4, 7-5 in just over an hour and a half to move into the last four.
Radwanska, coming off victory in Auckland last week where she beat Yanina Wickmayer in the final, will now face either 2011 winner Li Na of China or American Madison Keys, who play later Wednesday.
In the bottom half of the women's draw, Slovakian world number 15 Dominika Cibulkova upset French Open finalist and tournament third seed Sara Errani of Italy, 6-2, 6-1.
Cibulkova, who eliminated 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the opening round, will face either German second seed Angelique Kerber or former US and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semis.
While the men's tournament has been strewn with injury withdrawals ahead of next week's year-opening Grand Slam, Radwanska said she was relishing her run of matches leading into the Australian Open.
"So far I feel good, and I'm very happy that I can play good matches, already seven in a row," she said.
"I think this year it's the first time I've played two tournaments before a Slam. I never did that before.
"So far it's good, so I'm happy with my performance. I'm going to keep going."
Runner-up to Serena Williams at Wimbledon last year, Radwanska found it tough going in the wind against Vinci, whose backhand slice troubled the top seed.
"Today it felt like it was freezing compared to yesterday," she said.
"I think it was perfect weather to play, around 25 degrees (Celsius), but for sure the wind was tough. I think I played quite good in the wind."
While the mercury topped 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 F) in Sydney on Tuesday, it was forecast to peak at just 25 degrees Wednesday.
Cibulkova was on top of her game, converting five of her six break points and winning 75 percent of her first serves against Errani.-AFP
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