Olympic semi-finalist Li Na and compatriot Peng Shuai crashed out of the China Open in the first round yesterday on a disastrous day for the host nation.
In the men’s draw in Beijing, former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero and last year’s finalist Tommy Robredo both eased into the second round.
Li, China’s highest-ranked player who reached the fourth round of the US Open, slipped to a 6-1, 7-6 (7/4) defeat against Italy’s Francesca Schiavone in just under two hours.
PHOTO: AFP
Peng lost 7-5, 6-4 to Russian qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva, who made headlines by beating Maria Sharapova in the second round of Wimbledon this year.
Yan Zi and Zhang Shuai were also first round losers on a miserable day for China.
The 29th-ranked Li admitted she had failed to take her chances during the match, for example when serving for the second set at 5-3.
“Today, I think I was in a hurry and I made many faults,” she said.
“I’m a little bit afraid of anticipating upcoming matches,” she added, referring to her first round defeats both in Beijing and at last week’s Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
Peng reached the semi-final of the 2006 China Open, the best performance by a local female player, but she admitted she had failed to make the most of her opportunities yesterday.
“I was really happy to reach the final in Guangzhou [at the weekend], but I felt a bit tired from the past two tournaments,” said Peng, ranked 41st in the world.
Defending champion Agnes Szavay meanwhile eased into the second round, defeating Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Svedova 6-4, 6-3. Eighth seed Anna Chakvetadze also won in straight sets.
In the men’s US$524,000 tournament, Ferrero sealed a 6-4, 6-3 win over Russia’s Alexandre Kudryavtsev and Robredo, seeded six, beat compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 7-5.
■THAILAND OPEN
AFP, BANGKOK
Sixth-seeded Swede Robin Soderling, playing his first match in almost a month, yesterday breezed past Pakistan’s Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-2, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Thailand Open.
Soderling, ranked 34th in the world, fired 15 aces to seal the victory — his first since a second round win in Cincinnati last month.
“The first round is always tougher than almost any other match — save the final,” said Soderling, who suffered opening round losses at both the Beijing Olympics and the US Open.
Soderling said Qureshi, ranked 207th in the world and the only Pakistani player of note on the ATP tour, had “served well and was tough on this medium-fast surface.”
“He played a lot better than I would have expected,” the Swede said.
Soderling, who converted three of eight break chances, is hoping to revitalise a year which began with promise after consecutive runner-up finishes at Rotterdam and Memphis in February.
The Swede said he took a week to mull his loss to Russia’s Evgeni Korolov in the first round at Flushing Meadows, but now felt revitalized.
In other matches, Russia’s Teimuraz Gabashvili defeated Michael Berrer of Germany, 6-4, 6-3.
World No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who heads the field in Bangkok, has a bye into the second round. The 21-year-old Serb last played at the tournament in 2004 on a wild card, losing in the first round.
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