Zvonareva breezes into second round

 

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

The 24-year-old top seed looked a confident player on Wednesday, needing just 59 minutes to dispatch of Rodionova in Guangzhou.

Zvonareva has enjoyed a solid 2008 on the WTA Tour so far, reaching four finals – including a title in Prague – and climbing from 23rd to ninth in the world rankings.

She also helped Russia claim their fourth Fed Cup title in five years last weekend, and is one of five players from her homeland currently ranked in the top 10.

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 on Wednesday.

The 34-year-old Craybas is through to her fourth quarter-final of the year as she seeks only 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 the better of eighth seed Mariya Koryttseva of the Ukraine, 6-4 6-4.

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.

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