BEIJING, (Reuters) – Serena Williams was knocked out of the third round of the $6.6 million China Open by an inspired Nadia Petrova yesterday, leaving the WTA’s new “crown jewel” event without a top three seed in the quarter-finals.
Men’s top seed Rafa Nadal, however, was delighted with his form and fitness after negotiating a tricky second round tie against American James Blake to reach the last eight.
Williams, who will retake the number one spot next week, lost 6-4 3-6 7-6 to the Russian 13th seed to join her third seeded sister Venus and top seed Dinara Safina in exiting the tournament.
The Australian Open and Wimbledon champion had three break points at 4-4 in a third set that went entirely with serve, and scrambled back from 5-0 down to 6-5 in the tiebreak but Petrova held her off to claim victory with a final huge forehand.
“I don’t feel like I ever got into high gear, she was controlling the whole match,” said the 28-year-old Williams.
“In the second set, I got one break and I just made sure I held serve to win the set. I ran into a girl today who has never played so good.”
Nadal, playing his first tournament since picking up an abdominal injury at the U.S. Open, was not at his rampaging best but certainly proved his fitness by outlasting Blake 7-5 6-7 6-3.
“I felt I played really well all the match, one of my best matches since the injury of the knee,” said Nadal, who missed his Wimbledon title defence because of tendinitis of both knees.
“He’s a very good player, I think he has one of the best returns of any player I have played.”
MATCH POINT
Blake, ranked 24th after missing part of the season through injury, hit the ball low and hard throughout the match but errors on key points allowed the Spaniard to tie up their career head-to-head at 3-3.
The New Yorker refused to back down throughout the contest and saved a match point before winning the second set in a tiebreak, only to hand the world number two a 5-3 lead with a double fault in the decider.
“Winning in three sets always gives you confidence but today what really gives me confidence is how I played,” said Nadal, who will meet Russian Marat Safin for a place in the semi-finals.
Former world number one Safin, who plans to retire at the end of the season, proved there was still life in his injury-wracked body with a 6-3 6-4 win over seventh seed Fernando Gonzalez.
“He served unbelievable and didn’t let me do too much, one break point in the whole match,” said Chilean Gonzalez, champion here two years ago.
In the women’s draw, the third round proved a step too far for China’s world number 226 Zhang Shuai — the lowest ranked player to beat a world number one when she upset Safina in the second round.
The wildcard went down 6-1 6-4 to France’s Marion Bartoli, who will next play Vera Zvonareva after the Russian seventh seed outlasted 10th seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-3 5-7 7-5.
