BEIJING // World number four Ana Ivanovic eased past the French teenager Alize Cornet 6-1 7-6 to reach the China Open quarter-finals today, while China's Zheng Jie delighted home fans by thrashing Japan's Ai Sugiyama. The 20-year-old Serb needed only 30 minutes to close out the first set against Cornet and broke early in the second to race to a 3-1 lead. The 18-year-old Frenchwoman broke Ivanovic's serve twice to fight her way back into the match but ultimately wilted under pressure when serving for the set at 6-5.
Ivanovic attacked Cornet's serve furiously to break back and then steam-rolled the world number 19 in the tie-break 7-1. She faces a quarter-final meeting with Zheng, who knocked her out of Wimbledon this year on the way to becoming the first Chinese to make a grand slam singles semi-final. "I think I can play better this time," Ivanovic said after the game. "I didn't prepare in particular for (Zheng) but I think it should be a tough match."
Zheng trounced Sugiyama 6-1 6-2 to the delight of the small but vocal home crowd, a match she had brooded on for four years after being beaten by the Japanese 33-year-old at the Athens Olympic Games. "It was a shame to lose at Athens ... I said to myself I'm definitely going to beat her next time," said 25-year-old Zheng. Russia's Vera Zvonareva advanced to a quarter-final against Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain after beating Francesca Schiavone of Italy 7-6 6-2.
Slovak Dominika Cibulkova, who upset eighth seed Anna Chakvetadze 6-3 6-2, will face fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in the last eight. *Reuters
