Unpredictable Latvian Ernests Gulbis out-aced John Isner 23 to 16 in a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 knockout of the American third seed to reach the Austria Open quarterfinals Wednesday. In a late match Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France beat Tommy Haas of Germany 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-4. The second-round defeat meant that Isner's already slim chances of qualifying for the eight-man field at next month's World Tour Finals took a major hit. Isner, the top US player at 13th in the world, stood provisional 12th in the points race to the season wrap-up in London which takes place from Nov. 15-22. He was among a group of a dozen who at the start of the week were chasing the two remaining qualifying spots. Vienna top seed David Ferrer, who had to fight through for a post-midnight win at the Stadthalle in his opening match, currently stands on the provisional eighth position behind Japan's Kei Nishikori with those two next in the queue for the year-ender. Gulbis, who had lost five straight matches at the ATP level before arriving in the Austrian capital, will next face either Croatian seventh seed Ivo Karlovic or Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine. Gulbis, who has ridden a ranking roller-coaster in his patchy career, currently stands at a humble 117th in the world. The Latvian son of a millionaire businessman now stands 3-2 over Isner, who had won their last two meetings. Gulbis went up an early break in the final set and held the edge until the end. In a first round match, Italy's eighth seed Fabio Fognini defeated Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the pair's first meeting since 2009. Pennetta, Kerber join WTA Finals lineup US Open champion Flavia Pennetta and Germany's Angelique Kerber qualified for the eight-woman season-ending WTA Finals Wednesday, leaving just one place to decide. The pair join Simona Halep, Garbine Muguruza, Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska in the October 23-November 1 tournament in Singapore. It is a competition which will be missing world No. 1 Serena Williams who has shut down her season. "Qualifying for the WTA Finals in Singapore is a dream come true and the perfect way to end to an amazing season for me," said Pennetta who will retire from the sport after the event. "It will also be a wonderful way for me to say to say goodbye to tennis — it's a spectacular stage to bow out on. Having won the WTA Finals before in doubles, I can't wait to make my debut in singles." Lucic-Baroni beats Errani Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia defeated third-seeded Sara Errani of Italy 6-3, 6-4 Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the Luxembourg Open. In an all-German battle, Mona Barthel edged Tatjana Maria 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 to join Lucic-Baroni in Friday's quarterfinal. In first-round action, two more Germans faced each other, with Anna-Lena Friedsam beating eighth-seeded Annika Beck 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Anna Tatishvili of the United States beat Oceane Dodin of France, 7-6 (5), 6-3 and Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium beat another American, Madison Brengle, 6-4, 6-3. In a late match Misaki Doi of Japan beat Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-2.
