Amelie Mauresmo struggled to overcome sixth seed Jelena Jankovic 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/3) Saturday to reach the final of the China Open.
BEIJING: Amelie Mauresmo moved to within one victory of her first title in Asia as she struggled to overcome sixth seed Jelena Jankovic 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/3) Saturday to reach the final of the China Open.
Mauresmo's marathon lasting two hours, 41 minutes was in contrast to the stroll of second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, who ended local hopes by crushing Peng Shuai 6-0, 6-2 with around two hours less work.
Frenchwoman Mauresmo led a set and a break before Jankovic began to find her range. Resistance started to stiffen against the top seed with Jankovic taking it into a deciding set.
The match contained 32 break points, with Mauresmo getting out of jail by saving 12 of 18 she faced. Jankovic went seven for 14.
Mauresmo is playing for the first time in China, with her only previous port of call the Toyko indoor event in 1999 and 2000.
Rival Kuznetsova, from Russia, is much more at home holding Asian trophies after winning a third career title at Bali last weekend. She made short work of Peng, China's last hope in the event.
Peng, ranked 60, was out of her depth against the world No.5, going down meekly in the first set before rallying in the second but to no avail.
The Russian extended her current hot streak to eight consecutive victories. She stands 54-15 on the season.
"I played smart today and Peng didn't play well," said Kuznetsova. "I think she was a little bit tired.
"(I felt) physically good. In the first set, I tried to make her move, and made some drop shots."
Kuznetsova trails Mauresmo 2-4 in their career series, but has won their last two meetings this year in Dubai and Miami. With Mauresmo standing an impressive 46-10 this season with four titles including her first two majors, Kuznetsova knows she will face a battle for the trophy.
"It will be tough, but it's good to play against top players," said the Russian, who could take over fourth in the world from Kim Clijsters if she lifts the trophy.
"She plays with a lot of variety, and I have to face her point by point."
Mauresmo took a 5-1 lead over Jankovic, 17th in the world, but then faced a struggle to close out the set.
The 27-year-old top seed saved three break points in the next game, then followed up a double-fault with an ace for a set point, which she converted after 31 minutes.
The tide turned for Jankovic, who had won 15 of her last 18 matches going in, until Mauresmo managed the tiebreak winner to close out victory.
Peng became the first Chinese player to reach the Beijing semis. The previous best at home for a Chinese was 2005, when both Sun Tiantian and Peng made quarter-final appearances.
The Chinese challenger said she was feeling the effects of a recent ankle injury.
"I'm already very tired, and I was afraid to get hurt again. I haven't had a major breakthrough this year like last year. "But I'm now calmer on court. I wasn't able to fight my best. Against a top 10 player that is a disadvantage."
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