Peng cheers home fans, Zheng exits in Auckland

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark hits a forehand return against Ksenia Pervak of Kazakhstan at the Brisbane International yesterday. The Dane was out in the first round.

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FRANCE'S No. 2 seed Marion Bartoli and sixth-seeded Peng Shuai of China advanced to the second round of the Shenzhen Open after winning their opening matches yesterday.

The world No. 11 Bartoli had an easy time knocking off China Hong Kong's Chan Wing-yau 6-1, 6-0 in just over an hour.

Peng too made quick work of British qualifier Anne Keothavong, knocking her rival out with a 6-4, 6-0 win.

Peng was not the only home nation player to shine as compatriot Duan Yingying beat Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan 7-6, 7-5, booking herself a place in the second round.

In Auckland, New Zealand, defending champion Zheng Jie of China crashed out in the first round of the ASB Classic yesterday, falling to rising American star Jamie Hampton 5-7, 1-6.

Two-time grand slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova was also sent packing on the opening day, beaten in a three-set marathon by Dutch Kiki Bertens.

In blustery conditions, the 21-year-old Bertens fought back from a set down to beat former world No. 2 Kuznetsova 6-7 (5/7), 6-2, 7-5.

Zheng, seeded fourth in the tournament that serves as a warm-up to the Australian Open, raced to an early 3-0 lead in the opening set before Hampton fought back to level at 5-5.

The German-born American, who has soared up the rankings from 137 to 70 over the past year, then broke Zheng in a love game before taking out the set with an ace in the following game.

The second set was all Hampton, as she used her strong cross-court forehand to dominate the more experienced Chinese in one hour 20 minutes.

American Christina McHale was the second ranked player dumped out on the opening day, with the seventh seed losing in straight sets to France's Pauline Parmentier 4-6, 1-6.

In Brisbane, Australia, former US Open champion Samantha Stosur's miserable Australian form continued when she was knocked out of the first round of the Brisbane International by Sweden's Sofia Arvidsson.

Arvidsson took full advantage of 48 unforced errors from the Australian No. 1 to win 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 on Pat Rafter Arena.

Stosur, who grew up on the nearby Gold Coast, has struggled to live up to expectations when playing in her home tournament and has not made it past the second round in four attempts.

Earlier, former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki lost valuable Australian Open match practice when she lost to Kazakhstan qualifier Ksenia Pervak.

In a titanic battle lasting 2 hours, 48 minutes, left-handed Pervak eased past Wozniacki 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/1) in the first shock of the season-opening WTA tournament.

Eighth-seeded Wozniacki had looked in control as she reeled off the first set in just 29 minutes. But the Russian-born Pervak found her range in the second set and had the Dane constantly under pressure with her swinging left-handed groundstrokes.

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