CHINA’S Li Na and Zheng Jie reached the third round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York on Wednesday.
Li rallied to beat Sara Errani of Italy 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 while Zheng Jie eased past Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-1, 6-4.
Even though Li lost to eventual silver medalist Dinara Safina at the Beijing Olympic Games and then finished just outside the medal count by falling to another Russian, Vera Zvonareva, the 26-year-old deemed her Olympic experience an unqualified success.
“In Olympics, every friend was coming to Beijing so I can talk to them, [have] dinner with them,” she said. “It’s more exciting to play in my country. I feel like my friends, my team were behind me and pushed me a lot. Yes, this is good for me. But the Olympics are over. Now I need to focus on U.S. Open.”
For Li, her great hope is to perform as well in front of the Americans as she did in front of the Chinese. After that, she has one more goal, and it has to do with a very American pastime: shopping in New York City.
“I like the street No. 5,” she said, referring to fashionable Fifth Avenue. “After the match I will go there. Taking a credit card, that’s it.”
Zheng Jie will face Serbian star Jelena Jankovic in the next round. Zheng reached the semifinals at Wimbledon earlier this year.
Jankovic pulled out a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-5 win over Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson on Wednesday.
Jankovic twice served for the win in the middle set against Arvidsson, yet couldn’t put her away — even with a match point in reach. Jankovic held off Arvidsson in a back-and-forth third set when both had trouble holding serve.
When Arvidsson fired long on the final point, Jankovic had her third service break of the third set and eighth overall. There was suddenly a spring in her step as she waved and blew kisses to the crowd.
Even with the squandered chances, Jankovic still had an opportunity to advance without going the distance. She jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second set tiebreak before losing six straight points. Jankovic extended the set by winning two points on her serve, but fired wide as she approached the net-drawing an exuberant “Yeah” from Arvidsson.
Several times, Jankovic hunched over and leaned on her racket but didn’t appear to be in distress. The Serb, ranked No. 1 earlier this year, lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon after injuring a knee in the previous match.
While Jankovic escaped an early exit, No. 8 seed Vera Zvonareva couldn’t. Zvonareva was upended by Tatiana Perebiynis 6-3, 6-3 in the tournament’s biggest upset yet.
No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova shook off an early break and rallied to a 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory over Sorana Cirstea. Fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva advanced over Pauline Parmentier 6-2, 6-1. No. 12 Marion Bartoli of France, No. 14 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and No. 15 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland also won.
Former champ Lindsay Davenport, the No. 23 seed, beat Alisa Kleybanova 7-5, 6-3.
In men’s first-round play, No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic shook off an injury to his left ankle in the third set and beat Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.
(SD-Agencies)
CHINA’S Li Na and Zheng Jie reached the third round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York on Wednesday.
Li rallied to beat Sara Errani of Italy 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 while Zheng Jie eased past Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-1, 6-4.
Even though Li lost to eventual silver medalist Dinara Safina at the Beijing Olympic Games and then finished just outside the medal count by falling to another Russian, Vera Zvonareva, the 26-year-old deemed her Olympic experience an unqualified success.
“In Olympics, every friend was coming to Beijing so I can talk to them, [have] dinner with them,” she said. “It’s more exciting to play in my country. I feel like my friends, my team were behind me and pushed me a lot. Yes, this is good for me. But the Olympics are over. Now I need to focus on U.S. Open.”
For Li, her great hope is to perform as well in front of the Americans as she did in front of the Chinese. After that, she has one more goal, and it has to do with a very American pastime: shopping in New York City.
“I like the street No. 5,” she said, referring to fashionable Fifth Avenue. “After the match I will go there. Taking a credit card, that’s it.”
Zheng Jie will face Serbian star Jelena Jankovic in the next round. Zheng reached the semifinals at Wimbledon earlier this year.
Jankovic pulled out a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-5 win over Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson on Wednesday.
Jankovic twice served for the win in the middle set against Arvidsson, yet couldn’t put her away — even with a match point in reach. Jankovic held off Arvidsson in a back-and-forth third set when both had trouble holding serve.
When Arvidsson fired long on the final point, Jankovic had her third service break of the third set and eighth overall. There was suddenly a spring in her step as she waved and blew kisses to the crowd.
Even with the squandered chances, Jankovic still had an opportunity to advance without going the distance. She jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second set tiebreak before losing six straight points. Jankovic extended the set by winning two points on her serve, but fired wide as she approached the net-drawing an exuberant “Yeah” from Arvidsson.
Several times, Jankovic hunched over and leaned on her racket but didn’t appear to be in distress. The Serb, ranked No. 1 earlier this year, lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon after injuring a knee in the previous match.
While Jankovic escaped an early exit, No. 8 seed Vera Zvonareva couldn’t. Zvonareva was upended by Tatiana Perebiynis 6-3, 6-3 in the tournament’s biggest upset yet.
No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova shook off an early break and rallied to a 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory over Sorana Cirstea. Fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva advanced over Pauline Parmentier 6-2, 6-1. No. 12 Marion Bartoli of France, No. 14 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and No. 15 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland also won.
Former champ Lindsay Davenport, the No. 23 seed, beat Alisa Kleybanova 7-5, 6-3.
In men’s first-round play, No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic shook off an injury to his left ankle in the third set and beat Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.
(SD-Agencies)