PATTAYA, Thailand(AP) Fifth-seeded Peng Shuai of China became the first player to reach the quarterfinals of the Pattaya Open with a 7-6 (4), 6-0 victory over Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan on Wednesday.
Peng, ranked No. 35 in the world, struggled early but found momentum in the latter part of the match, advancing to the last eight for the second time in Pattaya.
I've never played her so the first set was a bit tough for me,'' said Peng, who reached the Pattaya semifinals in 2007.After 6-6 I fought hard to win the tie-break and in the second set I knew her game and hit harder.''
Coached by Tarik Benhabiles, a former coach of Andy Roddick, Peng expects to meet top-seeded and world No. 5 Vera Zvonareva of Russia in the quarterfinals. Zvonareva was to play Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova in the second round.
I played her before,'' Peng said of Zvonareva.It would be a tough match. I will have to be aggressive and play my best tennis.''
In first-round matches, eighth-seeded Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia survived a tough challenge from 38-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm of Japan to emerge with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win after two hours, 13 minutes.
Krumm, a former world No. 4 who came back on the tour after a 12-year retirement, appeared to have leg problems in the final set and was seen in tears after the match.