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.
“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.
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.
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