BEIJING — Home favorite Zheng Jie ousted No. 2 Ana Ivanovic from the China Open on Friday, defeating the Serb 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-4 to reach the semifinals.

Ivanovic, the French Open champion and former No. 1-ranked player, was erratic with her serve and ground strokes. She led in the first set, but failed twice to serve it out before Zheng won in the tiebreaker.

The grueling match lasted almost three hours, filled with exciting rallies, service breaks, strings of deuce games and unforced errors.

Wimbledon semifinalist Zheng had noisy support from home fans at the Beijing Tennis Center in the south of the capital. She is the only Chinese woman still playing in the tournament after four others lost in the first round.

Zheng previously beat Ivanovic en route to the Wimbledon semifinals.

“This is a good win for me,” she said. “It was in China and in front of my home crowd.”
Ranked No. 30 by the WTA, Zheng is hoping the ranking points earned in China will push her past her previous career high of No. 27.

Ivanovic has battled hand and leg injuries since winning in Paris, which has limited her play and confidence. However, she described her match Friday as “one of the best” since the French Open.

In two other quarterfinals, No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia defeated Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-4 and Russian No. 5 Vera Zvonareva beat Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-0, 6-1.

In the semifinals, Zheng plays Kuznetsova, while Zvonareva plays the winner of Thursday’s late match between top-seeded Jelena Jankovic and Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia. AP