China's Peng Shuai eased into the second round of the Stanford
Classic with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Russia's Elena Bovina on
Monday.
Peng was joined in the last 16 by Slovenian seventh seed
Katarina Srebotnik, the only ranked player in action on the opening
day, who recorded a routine 6-3, 6-4 victory over Russia's Olga
Poutchkova.
The 21-year-old Peng played corner-to-corner against the taller
Bovina, frequently wrong footing her opponent into errors with an
intelligent and aggressive game honed by her new coach, former
world number two Michael Chang.
"She hits hard, so I tried to hit hard first. She is a big girl,
so I tried to move the ball around," said Peng.
At world number 62, Peng is China's second-ranked player and is
making a comeback after suffering a serious ankle injury in early
May.
Two Americans also advanced after Meilen Tu beat compatriot
Meghann Shaughnessy 7-6, 6-1 and Lilia Osterloh defeated Jill
Craybas 6-2, 7-5 to earn herself a meeting with second seed and
Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli of France.
Greece's Eleni Daniilidou outlasted American Amber Liu 4-6, 7-5,
6-1 to set up a second-round showdown against third seed Daniela
Hantuchova.
Daniilidou next faces Russian top seed Anna Chakvetadze, who
comes into the event on the back of a tournament victory in
Cincinnati.
(Xinhua News Agency July 25, 2007)