Peng finally gets the better of Kuznetsova
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Peng Shuai rallied to stun two-time grand slam-winner Svetlana Kuznetsova 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, yesterday.
China's Peng, ranked 71, dropped the first set in 30 minutes before fighting back tenaciously to win the second and recovering from 0-3 deficit in the third to take the match in 2 1/4 hours.
Peng had played third-seeded Kuznetsova, a former US Open and French Open champion, on three previous occasions and lost each time.
Kuznetsova made a bold start to the deciding set, breaking Peng in the opening game, serving an ace to start her first service game. But her errors intensified and she dropped serve at 3-1 and again as Peng leveled the set at 5-5. Peng held serve, then broke again to take the match on her second match point.
"I was really nervous," Peng said. "When the match started, in the first set, I was just not in the match. I just tried to fight every point.
"At first I just thought 'don't lose too fast.'"
Kuznetsova regretted she wasn't able to take her chances in the match. "I was leading all the time, but when you don't take chances, the opponent will take them," she said. "She played great today but I had so many possibilities."
Meanwhile, former top-ranked Maria Sharapova struggled on serve in windy conditions before beating Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5.
No. 2 seed and defending champion Yanina Wickmayer was stretched to three sets by Sabine Lasicki of Germany, winning 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, while No. 4 seed Julia Goerges of Germany beat Alize Cornet of France 6-2, 6-4.
In Australia, defending champion Andy Roddick weathered an early onslaught from hard-hitting Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov before steamrolling him 6-4, 6-1 to book a quarterfinal place at the Brisbane International yesterday.
Women's No. 4 seed Marion Bartoli of France beat Czech Iveta Benesova 6-1, 3-6, 6-0.
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