Zhang and Peng bow out bravely in Paris

China’s top-ranked women’s duo were knocked out of the French Open on Thursday, but both drew positives from battling performances on a surface which is far from their favorite.

Zhang Shuai, the 27th seed, lost 6-3, 6-4 to her long-term training partner, Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania, before world No 41 Peng Shuai went down 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to French seventh seed Caroline Garcia on the clay of Roland Garros.

Zhang’s hopes suffered a major psychological blow when she dropped a grueling 15-minute ninth game before conceding the first set 6-3.

The Romanian clay-court specialist maintained her momentum in the second set to build a 5-3 lead.

Zhang saved one match point to cut the deficit to 5-4, however Begu sealed victory in the next game with a highquality backhand.

“I am not built for the clay court while my opponent always plays well on this surface,” Zhang said. “Her top-spin shots had me running across the court so my offense was just hampered by errors caused by the decline of my strength.”

Still, Zhang drew consolation from the gritty nature of her performance.

“In order to be a consistent pro player you have to be able to play your ‘A’ game on any surface,” the 29-year-old said. “I still have to improve my consistency on clay and I am happy I hung on there longer and better today.”

Later, on Court Suzanne Lenglen, Peng and Garcia produced a rally-fest, with the first six games going with serve before Garcia gained a decisive break in the seventh.

An error-ridden second set from Garcia allowed Peng to restore parity, but the Frenchwoman bounced back strongly in the third to set up a thirdround clash with Begu.

Peng, who has struggled with her physical conditioning since major lower-back surgery two years ago, said pushing Garcia to three sets had exceeded her expectations.

“I feel everything is getting better — my strength, returns and movement on the court,” said the 32-yer-old. “Although I lost, confidence-wise I am satisfied.”