Defending champion Serena Williams lost her opening match at the China Open on Wednesday, falling to 127th-ranked Chinese wild card Sun Tiantian by 6-2, 7-6 (7).
It's the first time 9th-ranked Williams, winner of seven Grand Slams, has lost to anyone outside the top 100 in a main draw. It was Sun's first win over anyone in the top 40.
Williams hasn't reached a final since winning the Australian Open in February, and has been bothered by shoulder, ankle and knee problems.
PHOTO: AFP
"I would say the main reason for my loss today is my left knee," said Williams, who had a first-round bye.
"I just played terrible. Sun played very well and was ready for the match. I'm disappointed I couldn't perform better today," she said.
Sun startled the home crowd by jumping ahead 2-0 and easily taking the first set. In the error-filled match, Williams frequently sprayed balls long, hit drop shots short, and double-faulted. She was broken to trail 4-5 in the second set, broke Sun back in the next game, but Sun prevailed in the tiebreaker 9-7.
PHOTO: AFP
"Before the match I was just saying don't be nervous," said Sun, through to only her second career quarterfinals.
"I had an opportunity today and I grabbed it. I just hope I can keep improving. My goal for this year is to crack the top 100," she said.
Williams, whose injuries forced her to miss the French Open and didn't help in her earliest defeats at Wimbledon and the US Open since 1998, said she was keen to rest and recover.
"I definitely think I'm going to get well before I perform again, for sure," she said.
Sun's victory capped a great for China: wild card Zheng Jie upset No. 6-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia-Montenegro 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 in a first-round match, and Peng Shuai beat Maria Diaz-Oliva of Argentina 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (0) in a second-round encounter.
Seventh-seeded Tatiana Golovin of France also lost, to Japan's Shinobu Asagoe 6-3, 6-4.
In other first-round action, Israel's Shahar Peer breezed past Russia's Vera Douchevina 6-2, 6-0 and will next face another Russian -- world No. 1 Maria Sharapova, and Poland's Marta Domachowska cruised past Meghann Shaughnessy of the US 6-3, 6-3.
Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld defeated Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-2, 6-3, and will meet Peng in the quarterfinals.
Venus Williams yesterday cruised to an easy 6-3, 6-1 win over Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives, joining World No. 1 Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals.
Sharapova overcame an unsteady second set to beat Israel's Shahar Peer 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 earlier yesterday to book her place in the round of eight.
Venus Williams, the No. 3 seed, dominated her match from the start, sprinting to a 4-0 lead in under 10 minutes. She later sealed the set with an ace.
The second set was more of the same, with Williams pounding her way to victory in less than an hour.
The top-seeded Sharapova was tested by Peer but persevered in their two-plus hour match.
"I focused in the third set and won it. Obviously I'll need to improve for my next rounds, but I'm pretty sure I'll get better," Sharapova said.
It was Sharapova's first match at the tournament, since she had a bye through the first round.
"The first match is always going to be tough because you don't know what to expect," she said.
In other action yesterday, Russia's Maria Kirilenko defeated Japan's Aiko Nakamura 6-1, 7-6 (3). Shinobu Asagoe, also of Japan, sailed past Jill Craybas of the US, 6-2, 6-4. Poland's Marta Domachowska beat China's Zheng Jie 6-3, 6-1.
Fourth-seeded Klara Koukalova, No. 6 Katarina Srebotnik and No. 8 Roberta Vinci advanced to the quarterfinals of the Slovenia Open on Wednesday.
No. 3 Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic failed to join them when she was upset by 125th-ranked Severine Bremond of France 6-0, 6-4 in second-round play.
Koukalova, winner of her first title at the Ordina Open in June, overcame being swept in the first set to defeat Germany's Sandra Kloesel 0-6, 7-5, 6-2. In the last eight she'll face Vinci, a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Koukalova's fellow Czech Zuzana Ondraskova.
Srebotnik kept Slovenian fans happy by beating German qualifier Angelika Bachmann 7-5, 6-3, and will next meet either second-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues or compatriot, wild card Masa Zec Peskiric.
Meilen Tu of the US beat Selima Sfar of the US 7-6 (2), 6-4 in a first-round match postponed from Tuesday, when darkness suspended play at 2-2 in the second set.
Hungary's Melinda Czink entered the quarterfinals of the WTA Tour's US$170,000 Sunfeast Open tennis tournament, defeating third-seeded Sania Mirza of India in the second round on Wednesday.
The 131st-ranked Czink rallied from a disastrous start to capitalize on the 34th-ranked Mirza's errors, clinching a 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory in a contest whose third set featured seven service breaks.
Eighth-seeded Rika Fujiwara of Japan also failed to make the quarterfinals as India's Shikha Uberoi clinched a 6-2, 6-3 victory in their second-round contest.
Kaia Kanepi of Estonia advanced to the quarterfinals by overcoming Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-1.
Top-seeded Anastasia Myskina and second-seeded Elena Likhovtseva, both from Russia, scored runaway wins in the opening round.
Myskina raced to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Romania's Edina Gallovits, while Likhovtseva outplayed Ukraine's Yuliana Fedak 6-1, 6-3.
Seventh-seeded Karolina Sprem of Croatia faced a tough opening-round contest against Australia's Evie Dominikovic before prevailing 6-4, 7-5.
Mirza blanked Czink in the first set, but the Hungarian clinched the second set by effecting service breaks in the first and seventh games. Mirza broke back in the second game, but lost the set after dropping service the second time.
The deciding third set saw both players struggle to hold their service, and Czink prevailed as she forced four breaks and dropped service three times.
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