Maria Sharapova was eliminated from the China Open on Wednesday, losing to Peng Shuai of China 6-2, 6-4, and Svetlana Kuznetsova moved into the quarterfinals by beating Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.
Peng broke Sharapova twice in the first set, and then again in the sixth game of the second as the former top-ranked Russian appeared to show the strain of her three-set comeback victory over Victoria Azarenka of Belarus the night before. Sharapova did save two match points at 5-4 before losing.
The sixth-seeded Kuznetsova outplayed Bondarenko for much of the match and next faces Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, who defeated Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada 6-4, 6-4.
In addition, fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia beat Li Na of China 6-2, 6-0.
Nikolay Davydenko of Russia advanced in the men’s field, beating Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-1, 6-0. Davydenko will face Marin Cilic of Croatia, who beat Julien Benneteau of France 6-2, 2-6, 6-0.
Second-seeded Novak Djokovic trounced Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-0, while Fernando Verdasco defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-4.
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