Six-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams woke up late yesterday, outlasting Russian Dinara Safina in a three set tussle 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the second round of China Open at the Beijing Tennis Center.

The top seed trailed 1-3 in the third set before exploding for five consecutive games. She was helped along by Safina's double faults and unforced errors in the last minute.

Third seed Maria Sharapova took a much more easier step into the next round with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over fellow Russian Tatiana Panova.

Sixth seed Gisela Dulko of Argentina, who played her second round match under the shadow of those glittering big names, continued her charge smoothly, beating Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela 6-4, 6-4.

The 19-year-old, who enjoyed best victory of her career by upsetting 2004 French Open and US Open finalist Elena Dementieva in straight sets at August's Canadian Open, could meet the new US Open champion and second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia. Kuznetsova will play China's qualifier Li Na in today's second round.

Following Dulko is another low-profile winner Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain, who also clinched a last eight spot after a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn.

Serena, a former world No 1, is chasing her second title of the year here. She started her debut with powerful serves and returns to take the first set.

But she soon fell to the ground after suffering an opening serve break in the second game and then in the fourth game, handing Safina the chance to battle back 6-3.

"I didn't feel good in the middle of the match," said Williams, "I tell myself to stay calm and I think I did better this time."

Williams soon left her sluggish second set behind and rebounded at the right time to clinch the winning set.

Sharapova progresses

Wimbledon Open winner Sharapova was dominant right into the first set, making use of her strong forehand and backhand returns and won her first two serves without losing a point. She then broke her opponent in the fourth game and led 4-1 after winning her serve.

Sharapova

Panova failed to put up any resistance and lost the next two games in a set that lasted only 22 minutes.

The glamorous fan favourite continued to show beautiful skills and returns in the second, winning most of the cheers from spectators.

Enjoying a 4-1 lead again after breaking Panova twice, Sharapova completed a one-sided victory with a superb lop return.

Jubilant Sharapova celebrated her second-round victory by blowing her kisses to the stands.

"I am so excited to play on centre court today," the 17-year-old said, "This is a good start for my tournament and everything is going very well."

Sharapova meets seventh seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro in the quarter-finals and is likely to meet Kuznetsova in the semis.

In the remaining two first round matches, both seeded players cruised into the next round.

China's top player Zheng Jie was no match for fifth seed Nadia Petrova of Russia and lost to the US Open quarter-finalist 6-2, 6-2.

Jankovic later joined Petrova by edging past Shinobu Asagoe of Japan 4-6, 6-2, 7-6.

"This is the second time I met her in a month," Zheng Jie said. "She has a superb serve and baseline stroke, so I made some special preparation before the match, but she really displayed a good performance and dominated the court."

Russian powerstroker broke Zheng's all four serve games and won the first set with an ace.

Zheng rebounded a little bit in the second set and saved four breakpoints, but she was not strong enough to fight back, losing the second set 6-2 to Petrova.

"Compared with the last meet at the US Open, I think I improved a lot," Zheng said.

"I've played more matches with better players, and she did not play with me at the same level," said Petrova. "I'm looking forward to my play tomorrow and I hope to face Serena Williams in the semi."

Chinese fans got some comfort in the doubles as Athens Olympic gold medallists Li Ting/Sun Tiantian got off to a good start on home soil after crushing Janet Lee of Chinese Taipei and Jennifer Hopkins of USA 6-2, 6-2.

(China Daily September 23, 2004)