BEIJING, Sept 18 - China's Peng Shuai outlasted Russia's defending champion
Maria Kirilenko 5-7 6-4 6-2 on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of the
China Open.
Eighth seed Kirilenko, who played her first-round match on Tuesday evening,
was beaten for the first time in seven contests at the Beijing Tennis Centre.
Peng, one of four Chinese to reach the second round at the $600,000
tournament, was edged out in the first set but broke the 19-year-old Russian
early in the second and never looked back.
"She was the defending champion and ranks higher than me but I was playing at
home and the crowd the were cheering for me," Peng told CCTV.
"When I lost the first set, everybody was encouraging me, so I never gave up
until the last point."
The world number 60 booked a spot in the last eight against either 10th
seeded Czech Nicole Vaidisova or Japan's Ai Sugiyama when Kirilenko
double-faulted after two hours and 33 minutes.
"I think I'm going to get better and better and see how far I can go," the
20-year-old Peng added.
France's Marion Bartoli, runner up to Svetlana Kuznetsova in Bali last week,
reached the second round with a 6-3 6-3 victory over Spain's Anabel Medina
Garrigues.
Second seed Kuznetsova, who received a bye into the second round, plays her
first match of the tournament against Croatia's Jelena Kostanic later on
Wednesday.
