Britain's Andy Murray became overwhelming favorite for an Asian hat trick as main rival Rafa Nadal was beaten in the third round of the Shanghai Masters Thursday. Top seed Nadal fell 7-6, 6-3 by Germany's Florian Mayer leaving Murray the stand-out name in the quarterfinals after the in-form Scot completed a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka at the Qi Zhong Tennis Centre. Nadal's compatriot David Ferrer had a more satisfying day as he survived three match points against another Spaniard, Juan Carlos Ferrero, to reach the quarterfinals and seal his place in the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London. Ferrer will face American Andy Roddick in the last eight after he beat Spain's Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-4. In another shock, 124th-ranked Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden knocked out Gilles Simon 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 – his reward being a quarterfinal clash against Murray. Japan's Kei Nishikori handed a 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 defeat to Colombia's Santiago Giraldo. Asia's top-ranked male player will play Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov who won 5-7, 6-1, 6-0 against Australian teenager Bernard Tomic. Stosur in quarters Top-seeded Samantha Stosur easily reached the Japan Open quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Misaki Doi Thursday. The seventh-ranked Australian will face seventh-seeded Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa who rallied to beat Kazakh's Yaroslava Shvedova 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5). Marion Bartoli of France also reached the last eight after a 6-1, 6-2 win over Vania King of the United States. Bartoli will face sixth-seeded Ayumi Morita next after the Japanese player beat Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 6-2, 6-3 on the outdoor hard court. Kvitova in quarters In Linz, Petra Kvitova eased past Austria's Patricia Mayr-Archleitner 6-2, 6-3 Thursday at the Generali Ladies to reach her second quarterfinal since winning Wimbledon. Kvitova will play former champion Daniela Hantuchova or Ksenia Pervak in the quarterfinals. Jelena Jankovic rallied to defeat Britain's Anne Keothavong 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals. The third-seeded Serb player will take on Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina for a place in the semifinals. No. 7 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia threw away a 5-1 lead in the first set before beating Italy's Sara Errani 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-1. In other second-round play, Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic downed Italy's Alberta Brianti 6-4, 6-2 without facing a break point. Safarova will take on Sorana Cirstea of Romania.
