Top seeds in the last eight of China Open
LI NA joined top seeds Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova in the last eight of the China Open yesterday but there was a shock in the men’s draw with Richard Gasquet losing to a Chinese wild card.
China’s Li, who is banking on a good week to help her qualify for the $4.9m season-ending WTA Championships in Istanbul, needed three sets and a tie break to overcome compatriot Peng Shuai. The former French Open champion finally won 4-6 6-2 7-6 (7/3) after almost two hours and 30 minutes.
Asia’s only Grand Slam winner will play defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals of the Beijing tournament.
World No 1 and first seed Azarenka dispatched Russian qualifier Elena Vesnina 6-3 6-3 to set up a quarterfinal tie with Switzerland’s Romina Oprandi.
The 23-year-old from Belarus has yet to drop a set in the tournament, defeating France’s Alize Cornet 6-1 6-0 in the first round and Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-4 6-2 in the second. “It was a little bit of a challenge today, for sure,” Azarenka said. “I felt like I could have been a bit more aggressive and not hesitate so much. When I won that last point, I was relieved and happy to finish the match in two sets.”
Second-seed Sharapova, No 2 in the WTA rankings behind Azarenka, defeated Slovenian qualifier Polona Hercog, who is ranked 90th in the world, 6-0 6-2 at the National Tennis Stadium.
Sharapova had beaten Romania’s Simona Halep 7-5 7-5 in the first round and Sorana Cirstea, also of Romania, 6-2 6-2 in round two.
“I had a long first round, even though it was two sets, but today and yesterday was definitely a little bit quicker,” Sharapova said.
Sharapova will face her first real test of the premier mandatory event in the next round when she takes on fifth seed Angelique Kerber of Germany. Kerber, ranked sixth in the world, defeated former world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-1 2-6 6-4.
The China Open is the fourth and final compulsory tournament of the women’s calendar, behind only the Grand Slams and end-of-season championships in prestige and popularity. Sapa-AFP
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