China’s Zheng Jie has tipped Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan for a place in the world’s top 20 after she lost to the Taiwanese teenager in the second round of the Malaysian Open on Thursday.
Zheng was seeded third at the tournament after her run to the semi-finals of the Australian Open last month, but was upset 6-2, 6-3 by 19-year-old Chang.
“I played my normal game, but she was playing good, attacking tennis,” Zheng told Malaysia’s Star newspaper after the shock defeat. “Today, she was just much better. If she continues playing like this, she can break into the top 20 soon.”
PHOTO: AFP
Chang’s victory over world No. 21 Zheng was a second notable upset in just a few months after she beat then-world No. 1 Dinara Safina in Tokyo last September.
The 92-ranked baseliner, the daughter of fishmongers from Taoyuan, said the victory would not alter her approach to her match against No. 6 seed Austrian Sybille Bammer yesterday.
“There’s no pressure, even though I beat the third seed. If you know what you are doing, I don’t think there is such a thing as pressure,” she told the paper.
A sudden thunderstorm suspended play in their quarter-final yesterday, with Bammer leading Chang 6-3, 3-6, 4-1.
Fourth-seeded Alisa Kleybanova of Russia came back from a set down to defeat Australia’s Anastasia Rodionova 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 earlier yesterday to reach the semi-finals.
Rodionova, who gave up her Russian nationality to become an Australian citizen in December, started brightly before wilting in the sun at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort.
She was also involved in a running argument with the chair umpire and line judges, allowing her frustrations to affect her game.
Kleybanova, who wrapped up the match in 2 hours, 32 minutes, will now play unseeded Japanese Ayumi Morita, who defeated South Africa’s Chanelle Scheepers 6-3, 7-5 in 1 hour, 40 minutes.
The 19-year-old Ayumi, who is in her first WTA semi-final, will seek to avenge her loss to Kleybanova, who beat her in their only meeting four months ago at the WTA Tokyo Open.
Top-seeded Olympic champion Elena Dementieva of Russia was scheduled to face Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova in the last match yesterday evening.
■DUBAI OPEN
REUTERS, DUBAI
Seventh seed Mikhail Youzhny beat Austrian outsider Jurgen Melzer 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) yesterday to book his place in the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
The Russian will face either defending champion and world No. 2 Novak Djokovic or Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis today, eager to go one better after losing the 2007 final to Roger Federer.
Youzhny’s greater consistency was decisive in the semi-final, as his lower-ranked opponent made too many unforced errors to really trouble the world No. 15.
At 4-5, a wide Youzhny forehand gave Melzer, 28, a chance to break and claim the opening set, but the left-hander clipped a forehand into the net after an 18-shot rally.
Melzer saved two break-points at 5-5, but a third was beyond him as Youzhny, 27, delivered a measured lob winner and then served out the set.
The second set followed a similar pattern, with serve again dominating.
Melzer missed an easy smash that would have given him two break-points at 3-2. Just 20 points were won against serve in the set.
In the tie-break, Melzer hit a backhand cross-court shot wide to give Youzhny a mini-break and ultimately the match, as the Russian triumphed 7-4 in his fourth Dubai semi-final.
“Jurgen played really well today,” Youzhny said. “He was aggressive. He won a lot of good points. So for me it was really tough.”
On Thursday evening, world No. 2 Djokovic fought back from a set down to beat Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic 2-6, 6-4, 6-0, becoming only the second seed to make it through to the last four.
“[It was] a very slow start for me,” said Djokovic, 22, whose win set up a semi-final with Cypriot Baghdatis, who beat Michael Berrer of Germany 7-6 (7/5), 6-1.
Ljubicic, 30, powered through the first set, dropping only two points on serve and breaking Djokovic twice.
The Serb upped his game in the second, hitting a series of unhittable serves and increasingly moving into the net, though he still had no answer to the Ljubicic serve that regularly topped 210kph.
The turning point came at 3-3 when Djokovic saved two break-points. Djokovic then converted his first break-point of the match as a wild Ljubicic forehand gave the Serb the second set.
The Serbian romped through the final set, running onto a slack drop-shot that Ljubicic could only scuff wide to clinch victory.
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