BEIJING - Chinese number two Peng Shuai upset Virginie Razzano 4-6 6-3 6-4 to give China a 2-0 lead in their Fed Cup world group tie against France on Saturday.
China's Peng Shuai reacts after winning a point against France's Virginie Razzano during their Fed Cup World Group first round tennis match in Beijing February 2, 2008. [Xinhua] |
Li Na overcame a slow start in the opening match to hammer tournament debutant Alize Cornet 6-3 6-1.
Peng will miss the reverse singles on Sunday to prepare for next week's Paris Open in order to gain enough points to qualify for Olympics tennis.
"They decided I would play a game today and take a plane tonight to get to France on Monday and play a tournament straight away," Peng said.
China captain Jiang Hongwei told Reuters they had not decided on a replacement to play France's Cornet.
France captain Georges Goven said the change would not affect the team's preparations.
"I think that if the Chinese do that, they are very confident they can win one tie or three tomorrow. But the match is not finished for us, obviously, and I still think we can win three ties tomorrow," Goven said.
World number 51 Peng came back from a set down and held her nerve against Razzano, who appeared to tire in the third set.
At 4-4 in the third, the 22-year-old broke Razzano's serve, after forcing three errors through clean returns. She then served out the set 6-4, delighting the small but vocal crowd at the Beijing International Tennis Centre.
"Today I felt quite nervous at the start, because it was a home game and I was playing for China for the first time," Peng said.
"In the second set I felt the fans cheering me and urging me not to give in. I felt I played at just about my best level so it felt great to win."
Chinese number one Li appeared nervous in front of her home fans and went 2-0 down to 18-year-old Cornet in the first set, before winning five consecutive games.
Her dominance carried over to the second set, where she broke Cornet immediately, before hammering her 6-1 in an impressive display of powerful strokeplay.
"I don't really know the French teams' players too well or what their games are like, so I just concentrated on playing my own game," Li, 25, said.
France, having fielded a second-string side after Amelie Mauresmo and Marion Bartoli opted out of the tie, will hope Razzano and Nathalie Dechy can upset former Wimbledon and Australia Open doubles champions Yan Zi and Zheng Jie in the opening rubber on Sunday.
