A tired Maria Sharapova bowed out in the third round of the US$6.6 million China Open yesterday, beaten 6-2, 6-4 by China’s Peng Shuai to the delight of the crowd at the Olympic tennis center.
The Russian, who claimed her first title since returning from a shoulder injury in Tokyo on Saturday, had to come from 5-2 down in the third set to win a three-hour opening match on Tuesday.
There was to be no way back against Peng, however, and the world No. 53 converted her third match point to upset a high-profile player for the second evening in a row after her second-round win over defending champion Jelena Jankovic.
PHOTO: AFP
“My energy level was not where it should have been ... there’ve been occasions where I’ve been able to fight back, today was just not one of those days unfortunately,” Sharapova told reporters. “She played really solid and really aggressive and did all the right things to win the match.”
Peng must next beat either second seed Serena Williams or Nadia Petrova for a place in the China Open semi-finals for the third time.
Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan teamed up with Peng later yesterday to defeat Italian duo Sara Errani and Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 7-5 in the women’s doubles second round.
PHOTO: AFP
Fourth seed Elena Dementieva immediately restored order in the second Russia versus China clash of the evening, rattling through her third-round match against Li Na 6-2, 6-0 in just under an hour to move into the quarter-finals.
Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2006 China Open champion, overcame a misfiring serve to claim her place in the last eight with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 victory over Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko.
The sixth-seeded Russian will face compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarter-finals after the teenager beat Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 6-4, 6-4.
Men’s fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko earlier boosted his chances of reaching the ATP Tour’s season finale for a fifth time with a 6-1, 6-0 thrashing of Philipp Kohlschreiber.
The workaholic Russian, who won his third title of the year in Kuala Lumpur last weekend, wasted no time in dispensing with the 22nd-ranked German to reach the quarter-finals.
Davydenko will meet Croatian Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals after the eighth seed beat France’s Julien Benneteau 6-2, 2-6, 6-0 earlier yesterday.
Second seed Novak Djokovic takes on fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki in the final match of the day on center court.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
■JAPAN OPEN
AFP, TOKYO
Richard Gasquet powered his way to the second round by beating Philipp Petzschner of Germany at the Japan Open tennis tournament yesterday.
The 23-year-old unseeded Frenchman, who has sparked adulation in some quarters but was sidelined for two months after a disputed positive test for cocaine in mid-season, began campaigning here with a strong 6-3, 6-2 victory.
In so doing, Gasquet booked a place in the second round against his compatriot and second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the winner over Mischa Zverev of Germany 6-4, 6-3.
“I did a great visit here last year and two years ago with a final and semi-finals. I like to play in Japan,” Gasquet said.
Gasquet stayed firm in his service games and never faced a break point against him in the 67-minute match against the 36th-ranked German, but insisted he is still working on his comeback.
Earlier in the day, unheralded qualifier Ernests Gulbis of Latvia showed his potential by upsetting sixth seed Radek Stepanek, using his serve to score a solid 6-4, 6-4 victory over the Czech player.
In the second round, Gulbis will take on Juan Monaco of Argentina, the winner over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, who abandoned their match at 0-5 down.
In other first-round action, Mikhail Youzhny of Russia beat Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-2, 6-3 and Andreas Beck edged past fellow German and 2003 Tokyo champion Rainer Schuettler 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3).
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but