Shuai Peng and Chanelle Scheepers successful in the first round of the 2011 Sony Ericson Open
Shuai Peng of China eased past Greta Arn of Hungary 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday in the first round of 2011 Sony Ericson Open in Miami, United States.
The 25 year old Peng started the match aggressively and broke the serve early in the first set to establish a firm control over the situation. The 2010 Asian Gold Medalist displayed crafty tennis and scored crucial points with
her strong and on-target serve.
Peng continued to pressurize her opponent in the second set and pushed her right back to the baseline. She played in some admirable chips shots every now and then and executed her forehands and backhands to perfection. Peng required
just over an hour to complete a thumping victory 6-1, 6-2 over the challenger.
On the other hand Arn was quite ordinary with her shots execution. She committed a large number of unforced errors and looked completely out of sorts. The 31-year-old has enjoyed a lot of success since the start of year 2011. She
defeated top seed Maria Sharapova and number 2 seed Yanina Wickmayer at Auckland to win her second Women’s Tennis Association title of her career. She then reached the quarterfinals at Mexican Open and Monterrey Open defeating top seeded players. The Hungarian
was certainly hoping for a better result at this premier WTA event but as it turned out she was knocked out by the inform Chinese.
The Chinese tennis-pro has looked in commanding form over the past few months reaching her career high WTA ranking of world number 32 on 21st March 2011. Earlier this year she reached the semifinals of Auckland and Hobart
and then fourth round of Australian Open. She reached the quarterfinals of 2011 BNP Paribas Open just a week ago upsetting Li Na and Maria Sharapova. Her second round opponent at the WTA tournament will be Aravane Rezai who received a bye from the first round
Also moving on ahead was Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa. Scheepers earned a hard fought 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 victory against Czech Polona Hercog to book her place in the second round of prestigious ATP Masters 1000 event.
Chanelle lost the first set 5-7 after putting up a brave fight against Hercog, who achieved her career high WTA ranking of world number of 43 following consistent performances on the tour. But the South African bounced back brilliantly
and showed extreme fighting spirit and determination to win the second set 7-5. In the decider Chanelle dictated the terms and lost only a couple of games to complete a deserving win.
The 27 year old has been very successful on the ITF circuit but is yet to prove her mettle in the WTA arena. A win against a top 50 player will certainly give her the much needed self-belief and confidence ahead of her quarterfinal
clash against Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania.
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