Laura Robson stuns Jie Zheng to reach the last eight - Guangzhou International Women's Open 2012
World number 74, Laura Robson, dispatched the 22nd ranked Chinese star, Jie Zheng, in the second round of the GRC Bank Guangzhou International Women's Open on Wednesday. She squashed the second seed competitor in straight sets
6-3, 6-3 to register the biggest upset of the tournament. The British teenager rounded off the clashing just an hour and 32 minutes that cemented her position as the number one Briton in the world.
Both players started off with a serve hold and coupled it up with a trade of breakthroughs to keep the scores together at 2-2. However, the second breakpoint for the 18-year-old kid was smartly protected by her in the sixth game
that gave her a lead of 4-2. Both players capitalized on their serves and pushed the scores at 5-3 in favour of the Briton. The left-handed Robson won four straight points on her rival’s serve to round off the first half of the match in her favour.
Robson never looked like an underdog in the contest. She played with confidence and commenced the second set with a serve hold. Moreover, the 29-year-old Chinese star was hammered away to a trail of 0-2 courtesy a classy winner
from the teenager that yielded the first breakpoint for her. Robson was under the cosh in the following game but did well to stay alive and extend the lead to 3-0.
Both players bagged the following serve games to make it 4-1 in favour of the Briton. A trade of breakthroughs kept the lead intact for the 18-year-old British number one. She lost just two points on her final serve game before
thrashing the second seed out of the competition.
Robson commented, “Zheng Jie moves very fast and I had to play really aggressively. I think I am in a good shape today and played well.”
She further added, “After the US Open people put more pressure and expectations on me, but I just want to focus on tennis and be a better player every time I step on court."
Next up for the teenager is another Chinese athlete, Peng Shuai. Commenting about her, Robson stated, “I practiced with Peng Shuai a few days ago. I feel the way she play is similar to Zheng. So I will continue to play aggressively
just like I did today.” It is going to an enthralling quarter-final contest to say the least.
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