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Hantuchova wins, Zheng restores pride

Daniela Hantuchova battled into the third round of the China Open yesterday as local favorite Zheng Jie restored some pride to Chinese tennis with an emphatic win.

In a seesawing evening match under the floodlights, the Slovakian seventh seed beat Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-1, 0-6, 7-5.

The world No. 13 looked set for a routine victory after taking the first set easily but her powerful Thai opponent came back strongly, winning the second set without losing a game.

In the deciding third set the players traded breaks, with Hantuchova eventually holding her nerve to serve out for victory.

Late last night, Jelena Jankovic was scheduled to take on Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak, looking to join Hantuchova in the third round.

A tournament win in Beijing for Jankovic would take her to within a handful of points of Serena Williams at the top of the women’s game.

Play was suspended until mid-afternoon due to steady rain, but when the action got underway, China’s Zheng completed a comfortable 6-2, 6-3 win over Agnieszka Radwanska.

Zheng, who started her match on Tuesday evening, said the interruption made it tough for her. She said she had also felt unwell in the run-up to the clash.

“Yesterday afternoon [Tuesday], I thought about withdrawing but the China Open is a tournament in my homeland so I thought I’d better keep trying,” the world No. 30 said.

In other first-round results yesterday, men’s fifth seed Fernando Verdasco eased through against Bobby Reynolds 6-3, 6-3, and US eighth seed Sam Querrey survived a scare, battling back against compatriot Jesse Levine to win 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).

Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic are seeded one and two in the US$600,000 China Open, with both chasing the women’s No. 1 spot, currently held by Serena Williams.

In the men’s US$524,000 tournament, last year’s champion and Olympic silver medalist Fernando Gonzalez, who starts his defense today, will face a tough battle to retain his title in Beijing, with top seeds David Ferrer and Andy Roddick in the hunt.
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