BEIJING // A tired looking Maria Sharapova bowed out of the third round of the US$6.6million (Dh24.2m) China Open today, beaten 6-2, 6-4 by China's Peng Shuai to the delight of the crowd at the Olympic tennis centre. The Russian, who claimed her first title triumph since returning from a shoulder injury in Tokyo last Saturday, had to come from 5-2 down in the third set to win a three-hour opening match on Tuesday.
However, there was to be no fight back from the former world No 1 today and Peng upset a high profile player for the second evening in a row after her second round win over defending champion Jelena Jankovic. Peng must next beat either second seed Serena Williams or Nadia Petrova for a place in the China Open semi-finals for the third time. Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2006 China Open champion, overcame a stuttering serve to claim her place in the last eight with a 6-3, 5-6, 6-0 victory over Ukraine's Alona Bodarenko.
The sixth seeded Russian will face compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarter-finals after the teenager beat Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 6-4, 6-4. Men's fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko earlier boosted his chances of reaching the ATP Tour's season finale for a fifth time with a 6-1, 6-0 thrashing of Philipp Kohlschreiber. The workaholic Russian, who won his third title of the year in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last weekend, wasted no time in dispensing with the 22nd-ranked German to reach the quarter-finals.
The world No 8 reached the final of the last version of the Masters Cup in Shanghai last year and needs a good result in Beijing to stay in contention for one of three remaining places in the new season-ending World Tour Finals in London. Davydenko will meet Croatian Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals after the eighth seed beat France's Julien Benneteau 6-2, 2-6, 6-0 earlier today. Second seed Novak Djokovic takes on fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki in the final match of the day on centre court.
* Reuters