AUCKALND, New Zealand — Canadian Vasek Pospisil was eliminated from the Auckland ASB Classic on Wednesday after dropping straight sets to his American doubles partner Jack Sock in second round action at the Australian Open warm-up event.
Four-time champion David Ferrer, meanwhile, beat Australian qualifier Matthew Barton 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the event for the 10th time in 11 appearances.
Sock dispatched the 25-year-old Pospisil 6-2, 6-4.
Pospisil, ranked 39th in the world, had edged seventh seed Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (4), 7-5 to reach the second round. The Vancouver product was facing the 26th-ranked Sock, who helped him win the 2014 Wimbledon doubles title, for the first time.
Fourth-seeded South African Kevin Anderson beat another qualifier, Robin Haase of the Netherlands, 7-6 (8), 7-6 (5).
At the Kooyong Classic exhibition tournament in Melbourne, Australian Nick Kyrgios retired with a foot injury from his match against David Goffin of Belgium.
Kyrgios, who led Australia to the Hopman Cup team event title last week, won the first set 7-6 (7-5) and was trailing 3-2 in the second when he said he couldn’t continue. The Australian Open begins Monday in Melbourne.
At the WTA’s Hobart International, 2012 champion Mona Barthel of Germany beat Naomi Osaka of Japan 7-6 (2), 6-2.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia has booked a semifinal berth at the Sydney International, while fourth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov advanced to the men’s quarterfinals of the Australian Open tune-up event.
The 30-year-old Kuznetsova, who won the 2004 U.S. Open and 2009 French Open, beat Sara Errani of Italy 7-6 (1), 6-0 and will meet either 2015 Sydney runner-up Karolina Pliskova or top-seeded Simona Halep in the semifinals.
Dimitrov advanced with a 7-6 (2), 6-4 win over Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas. Joining him in the men’s quarterfinals are Nicolas Mahut of France, who beat Andreas Seppi 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, and Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, who advanced when second-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria retired with an injury while trailing 7-6 (2) 2-2.
