Peng carries Chinese flag forward at Wimbledon
LONDON – Peng Shuai saw off a gutsy performance from Britain’s Elena Baltacha on Friday to become the only Chinese player to reach the third round at Wimbledon.
The 20th seed recovered from losing the first set to claim a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory set up a clash Saturday with Melinda Czink, the Hungarian who knocked out Australian 10th seed Samantha Stosur in round one.
Peng was the only remaining Chinese in the singles after French Open winner Li Na was beaten by Germany’s Sabine Lisicki and Zheng Jie went out to Japanese qualifier Misaki Doi on Thursday.
Chinese number two Peng is on a career-high world ranking of 20 but was pushed hard by the British number one on Court 18, an 800-seater show court packed with supporters cheering for the home favourite.
“Due to the rain we were waiting for two days to play and it’s a long time. You cannot go and practice so I didn’t feel that much confidence on the court,” Peng told AFP.
“And then after the first set, when I didn’t take my break points, when the second set started, I told myself to forget it and start again, try to fight, and I broke her serve early.
“She’s a good player with a big serve. When you play at home you have that excitement and everybody is cheering for you. So I’m happy to come back and win.”
Baltacha, the world number 68, had plenty of determination but her 29 unforced errors to Peng’s six were bound to catch up with her.
The final set was a roller-coaster affair, with two breaks each before Peng finally broke through.
Baltacha was able to see off match point three times but could not stop Peng at the fourth time of asking.
“The whole match we were just playing really good tennis,” the Scot said.
“From the first point, we were going for it, and it was a really good match. I had an opportunity. But that’s the way it is sometimes.
“I felt I was dictating a lot as well in the points. I didn’t feel like her pace fazed me. I felt really part of it the whole time.
“At no stage did I think, ‘I’m done’. I just played full every point, really stayed strong, really believed in it, really went for it. It was just unfortunate that I lost that in the third.”
Peng, 25, missed last year’s Wimbledon due to illness, so has no ranking points to defend at the All England Club.
In reaching the third round, the Tian Jin double-hander has matched her best-ever Wimbledon effort, having made the round of 32 in 2006 and 2008.
