Zvonareva advances in China

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:01

Zvonareva has reached four championships this season – winning her lone title of the year at Prague – and has risen from 23rd to ninth in the rankings since the start of 2008.

The 24-year-old looked like an elite player Wednesday, needing just 59 minutes to dispatch of Rodionova and improving to 46-16 in the process. Also a bronze medalist at the Olympics last month, Zvonareva will face Xu Yi-Fan of China in the second round.

Unseeded American Jill Craybas posted the upset of the day with a 6-2 7-5 victory over sixth seed Olga Govortsova in one of two second-round matches slated at the Tier III hardcourt event.

The 34-year-old Craybas is through to her fourth quarter-final of the year and bidding for her second career title, having won her first six years ago.

The other second-round match also resulted in an upset as unseeded Karin Knapp got past number eight Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine, 6-4 6-4. Things do not appear to get any easier for the Italian as Zvonareva is a potential quarter-final foe.

Other first-round winners were fourth seed Peng Shuai of China, Frenchwoman Camille Pin and Austria’s Tamira Paszek, who was a finalist in Bali last weekend.

Now get the WORLD’S BEST TENNIS MAGAZINE here