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Serena stunned by inspired Sun
Beijing, 21 September 2005 - World No.127 Sun Tiantian took Serena Williams by surprise at the China Open, earning a 6-2, 7-6 (9-7) second-round upset to complete a hat-trick of wins by Chinese players on Wednesday.
Williams, suffering with a knee problem and struggling with her game, was unable to turn the tide in the face of 22 unforced errors.
The defending champion, seeded fourth, will now only be able to watch as third-seeded sister Venus plays a Thursday opening match against Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain.
Williams, a seven-time grand slam winner, was subdued after her Chinese lesson at the Beijing Tennis Centre. ”I’m very disappointed, I struggled all night, I played terrible,” she said.
“Sun hit the ball well, I never expected a tough match like this. I was struggling with my left knee. I’m disappointed I couldn’t perform better. Sun played well, she was ready for the match.”
Sun had to overcome a case of nerves as she failed twice to serve it out in the second set, squandering a match point in the process.
In the tiebreaker, Williams saved three more match points, with Sun salvaging a Williams set point before finally closing out the biggest singles success of her career.
The Chinese wrapped it up with a return which caught a sideline.
“I never expected to win,” admitted Sun. “I wouldn’t say it’s a miracle, but it’s a breakthrough. Beating such a high-ranked player will give me more confidence in forthcoming matches.”
Tournament director Ekkehard Rathgeber hailed Sun’s success. “It’s a fantastic victory, not only for Sun but for Chinese tennis in general,” said Rathgeber, who is also Chief Operating Officer of tournament co-organiser TOM Group Limited, an associate of Hutchison Whampoa.
“We have said all along that the China Open will help the development of tennis in this country and Sun’s win will help accelerate that.
“Serena has obviously struggled with form and injury this season, but that should not take away from Sun’s achievement. Sun played extremely well in the first set and then refused to panic even when she failed on those first four match points.”
Earlier, Peng Shuai threw away a 4-0 lead in the final set before recovering for a marathon 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-0) victory over Argentine Mariana Diaz-Oliva to squeeze into the quarter-finals.
The Chinese No.1, ranked 33rd, had her troubles with the South American challenger, ranked 61st, and it took her almost two and a half hours of struggle to go through.
“I played very well up to 4-0 in the third set but I was too eager to win and pushed too hard with my shots, so I made a lot of unforced errors,” said Peng, 19, after the epic tussle on Centre Court.
“I’m very happy to have fought back to win. It’s a good experience for me to win a difficult match like this.”
Peng admitted she felt a greater burden playing in front of her home crowd. “Playing in China makes me more nervous – there is a lot of pressure on me,” she said.
Her next test will be on Friday against Anna-Lena Groenefeld, who overcame Japan’s Ai Sugiyama in their second-round match 6-2, 6-3.
Peng improved to 24-14 this season as she tries to cure inconsistencies which have hindered her promising game. She needed 71 minutes to win the dramatic fifth set, where she finally swept the tiebreaker after teetering as her 4-0 margin crumbled.
Peng, who trains in Delray Beach, Florida, easily won her first-round match over Finn Emma Laine, who had beaten the Chinese player in the first round of the US Open three weeks earlier.
Peng had a run of form in early August, reaching the second WTA semi-final of her career in Carlsbad, California, with victories over seeds Kim Clijsters – the lone defeat suffered by the US Open champion during the North American summer – Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina.
She now owns a 2-0 record over 29-year-old baseliner Diaz-Oliva after beating the Argentine last year as a lowly 216th-ranked newcomer.
Zheng Jie was China’s other winner on Wednesday, beating sixth seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia-Montenegro 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 Jelena Jankovic to advance to the second round.
In other first-round play, Japan’s Shinobu Asagoe upset Russian-born French seventh seed Tatiana Golovin 6-3, 6-4, while Israeli Shahar Peer defeated Russia’s Vera Douchevina 6-2, 6-0. Marta Domachowska of Poland knocked out American Meghann Shaughnessy 6-3, 6-3.
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Released on behalf of TOM Group and the China Open by Two Up Front - Asia’s sports PR specialists.