Peng Shuai loses to Davenport
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-26 10:16

World number one Lindsay Davenport fought off a challenge from Chinese newcomer Peng Shuai to advance to the third round of the French Open here on Wednesday.

China's Shuai Peng returns the ball to Lindsay Davenport from the U.S. during their second round match of the French Open tennis tournament, at the Roland Garros stadium, Wednesday in Paris. [AP]

The top seeded American needed 1hr 37min to come away a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-0 winner over the 19-year-old Peng, who was playing in the main draw at Roland Garros for the first time.

"I definitely got lucky and escaped today," said the American.

"I came here with a 'whatever happens attitude' and was lucky to get by. She made a couple of big errors, then I finally got a little bit more focused in my strategy and was able to turn it around.

"It was one of those tough days and I probably shouldn't have ended up winning."

Davenport, 28, who skipped all the claycourt warm-up tournaments in the run-up to the French Open, struggled early against the 43-ranked Chinese teenager.

After a confident start with an early break of serve for a 2-1 lead, Davenport was broken twice by Peng who reeled off four games in a row, and wrapped up the set after 31 minutes.

Davenport dropped her opening service game of the second set but came back to level 3-3. Another Peng break saw the Chinese player serving for the match in the tenth game only to drop serve, with Davenport forcing a tie-break.

Two mini breaks gave Davenport a 4-1 lead in the tie-break, and she never looked back, pulling out down the line winners to wrap up the tie-break 7-4.

It was all one way traffic after that as the Florida-based Peng's confidence floundered, and she failed to get on the scoreboard despite holding two break points as her opponent served for the match.

Bidding to follow in the footsteps of Zheng Jie, who last year became the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam fourth round, Peng admitted she had succumbed to nerves.

"This is only my second Grand Slam and first here in the main draw," said the player from Hunan, who also reached the second round this year in the Australian Open.

"In the second set when I was serving at 5-4 and I was 30-15 up I was thinking 'if it goes down the line I have two match points'. She was the number one seed and I had this chance.

"Afterwards I kept thinking about this point, even in the tie-break. Lindsay is a very good player, and she got some really good points in the tie-break, and maybe I got a little tired."

Davenport, winner of the 1998 US Open, 1999 Wimbledon, 2000 Australian Open titles, has only once reached the semi-final here in her 11 previous appearances, back in 1998.

But the signs aren't good for her winning the title, she admits.

"You know all three Slams I won I didn't lose a set so ... probably not the best indication of how it's going so far here."

She next meets France's Virginie Razzano for a place in the fourth round.

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