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June 29, 2012

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Zheng next up against Serena

CHINA'S Zheng Jie hopes to extract some sort of revenge against four-time champion Serena Williams as she eased to a 6-4, 6-2 second round victory over Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak yesterday.

Zheng lost to Serena in the Wimbledon semifinals in 2008 and will have a chance to avenge that loss in their third round rematch. Serena beat Hungarian qualifier Melinda Czink 6-1, 6-4 yesterday.

After being forced to come from a set down to defeat Stephanie Dubois of Canada in the first round, this was a much more comfortable win for Zheng.

The Chinese star, seeded 25th, hadn't been past the Wimbledon second round since becoming the first wildcard to reach the semifinals at the All England Club four years ago.

The 28-year-old ended that disappointing run in emphatic fashion out on Court 19 and can now look forward to only her second appearance in the last 32 of a grand slam since 2010.

Zheng made the perfect start with a break in the opening game of the match.

Her nerves were tested when Wozniak broke back to level at 4-4 and she passed with flying colors, breaking in the next game and serving out the set. Zheng seized complete control of the match with two breaks in the first three games of the second set. Although she dropped serve once herself, Zheng responded with another break and clinched the win on her fourth match point.

Also, top seed Maria Sharapova, the 2004 champion, had to dig deep yesterday to clinch a gritty 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (3/7), 6-0 victory over Bulgaria?s Tsvetana Pironkova, who was a semifinalist here in 2010 and quarterfinalist last year.

 

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