BEIJING, Sept 24: Olympic semi-finalist Li Na and compatriot Peng Shuai crashed out of the China Open in the first round on Tuesday, on a disastrous day for the host nation.

In the men’s draw in Beijing, former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero and last year’s finalist Tommy Robredo both eased into the second round.

Li, China’s highest-ranked player, who reached the fourth round of the US Open, slipped to a 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) defeat to Italy’s Francesca Schiavone in just under two hours.

Peng lost 7-5, 6-4 to Russian qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva, who made headlines by beating Maria Sharapova in the second round of Wimbledon this year.

Yan Zi and Zhang Shuai were also first-round losers on a miserable day for China.

Peng reached the semi-final of the 2006 China Open, the best performance here by a local female player, but she admitted she had failed to make the most of her opportunities on Tuesday.

The defeats for the Chinese players left just Zheng Jie, a Wimbledon semi-finalist this year, to fly the flag for the host nation in her late evening match but play was suspended due to rain when she was leading 3-0 in the first set.

Defending champion Agnes Szavay defeated Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Svedova 6-4, 6-3. Eighth seed Anna Chakvetadze also won in straight sets.

In the men’s 524,000-dollar tournament, Ferrero sealed a 6-4, 6-3 win over Russia’s Alexandre Kudryavtsev and Robredo beat compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 7-5.

Results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Men’s:

First round: 6-Tommy Robredo (Spain) bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) 6-4, 7-5; Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) bt Alexandre Kudryavtsev (Russia) 6-4, 6-3.

Women’s:

First round: Agnes Szavay (Hungary) bt Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) 6-4, 6-3; 8-Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) bt Iveta Benesova (Czech Republic) 6-4, 7-5; Alize Cornet (France) bt Zhang Shuai (China) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(7); Alla Kudryavtseva (Russia) bt Peng Shuai (China) 7-5, 6-4; Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) bt Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia) 6-4, 7-5; Ai Sugiyama (Japan) bt Yan Zi (China) 6-3, 6-4; Aleksandra Wozniak (Canada) bt Virginie Razzano (France) 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-4; Francesca Schiavone (Italy) bt Li Na (China) 6-1, 7-6(4).

SAFIN FALLS

BANGKOK: Russian seventh-seed Marat Safin tumbled out in the first round of the Thailand Open on Tuesday following a 6-4, 7-6 defeat by German Philipp Petzschner.

The former US and Australian Open winner fell at the first hurdle in one of his favourite tournaments, handing the pacy Petzschner the first set and coming out on the wrong end of the deciding tiebreak.

“I didn’t feel comfortable on court,” Safin said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t win, the other guy was better than me.”

Petzschner, ranked 131st, said the win was one of the biggest of his career.

“He was my idol, I watched him win the Australian Open,” he stated. “He’s a great guy, a little crazy. I didn’t miss many today and served really good...I played smart.”

The 2007 finalist Benjamin Becker made an early exit after losing to Czech Lukas Dlouhy 6-4, 7-6.

Results:

First round: Nicolas Mahut (France) bt Danai Udomchoke (Thailand) 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-2; Robert Kendrick (US) bt George Bastl (Switzerland) 6-3, 7-6(4); Philipp Petzschner (Germany) bt 7-Marat Safin (Russia) 6-4, 7-6(4); Lukas Dlouhy (Czech Republic) bt Benjamin Becker (Germany) 6-4, 7-6(4); Lukas Dlouhy (Czech Republic) bt Benjamin Becker (Germany) 6-4, 7-6(4); Simon Stadler (Germany) bt Julien Benneteau (France) 7-5, 6-1; Teimuraz Gabashvili (Russia) bt Michael Berrer (Germany) 6-4, 6-3; 6-Robin Soderling (Sweden) bt Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (Pakistan) 6-2, 6-4.—Agencies