DUBAI: Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer reached the quarterfinals of the Dubai Championships in contrasting fashion Wednesday. Djokovic struggled to overcome the inspired net play of Feliciano Lopez of Spain, winning 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Federer had an easier time, beating Marcel Granollers of Spain 6-3, 6-4 in just over an hour. They were joined by Tomas Berdych in the last eight after the third-seeded Czech beat Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 7-6 (5). Berdych, Djokovic and Roger Federer are the only three seeded players left in the tournament after eighth-seeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia was upset 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 by Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine. Also, Richard Gasquet of France overcame a 5-2 deficit in the second set to beat Ukrainian qualifier Sergei Bubka 6-2, 7-5. The second-seeded Djokovic dominated Lopez in the first set, but 18 unforced errors in the second set allowed the Spaniard to get back into the match. The decider was a pulsating affair with several long rallies as both players mixed up their shots with strong baseline play and some stunning volleys that had the crowd cheering. Wozniacki in quarters Top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki beat 2006 champion Nadia Petrova of Russia 6-3, 6-2 Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the Qatar Ladies Open. The Dane joins No. 2 Vera Zvonareva and No. 5 Jelena Jankovic as the remaining seeded players left in the tournament. Zvonareva downed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-1, 6-2, and Jankovic defeated Sania Mirza of India 6-0, 6-1. Wozniacki will play Flavia Pennetta of Italy, who earned a hard-fought 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic. Earlier, seeded players Francesca Schiavone, Li Na and Shahar Peer lost in straights sets. The third-seeded Schiavone lost 7-5, 6-3 to Peng Shuai of China. The fourth-seeded Li was beaten 6-2, 6-1 by Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic, and the eighth-seeded Peer went down 6-1, 6-0 to Marion Bartoli of France. In another match, Daniela Hantuchova rallied to beat Vera Dushevina of Russia 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.Sixth-seeded Victoria Azarenka and No. 7 Agnieszka Radwanksa were the other seeded players who bowed out of the tournament. Verdasco falls In Acapulco, Mexico, second-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain was knocked in the first round of the Mexican Open, losing 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci Tuesday. Earlier, third-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain took a confident step toward his third straight title with an easy 6-3, 6-2 win over Victor Hanescu of Romania . Fourth-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland also got off to a winning start, defeating Pablo Andujar of Spain 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) in the joint ATP and WTA event in Mexico's Pacific coastal resort. Fifth-seeded Albert Montanes of Spain defeated countryman Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-2, 6-1, and seventh-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina moved on to the second round after defeating countryman Horacio Zeballos 7-5, 7-6 (3). There was bad news for No. 8 Juan Ignacio Chela, who retired in the second set against fellow Argentine Eduardo Schwank with the scores at 3-6, 6-5. On the women's side, Loudres Dominguez Lino of Spain eliminated second-seeded Polona Hercog of Slovenia 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. No. 5 Simona Halep of Romania also bowed out with Laura Pous-Tio of Spain winning 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3. No. 3 Greta Arn of Hungary defeated Edina Gallovits-Hall of Romania 6-4, 6-4, and No. 4 Gisela Dulko of Argentina advanced against Anna Tatishvili of Georgia 6-3, 6-1. No. 7-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain downed Sandra Zahlavova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6
