Tennis

Zheng loses to Pivovarova at French Open

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-05-29 11:08

Zheng loses to Pivovarova at French Open

Zheng Jie of China returns the ball to Anastasia Pivovarova of Russia during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris May 28, 2010. [Agencies]

PARIS - Zheng Jie has the same problem as American players: she practices at home on green clay courts but when she plays in Europe, she struggles to adjust to the red dirt.

"In China, the clay court is like in the United States," Zheng said after losing to Russian qualifier Anastasia Pivovarova 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of the French Open on Friday. "It's faster (than in Europe). Next year, maybe I need to choose more tournaments on clay court to warm up for Paris."

Zheng, an Australian Open semifinalist this year, failed to convert nine break points in the first set against the 187th-ranked Pivovarova, who had never advanced past the first round at a major before the tournament.

Zheng, the first Chinese to ever reach a Grand Slam semifinal, trained on Beijing's clay courts in April, but lost in the first round in Rome and Madrid earlier this month.

To have more matches under her belt on that surface, Zheng then played in the Warsaw Open, losing the final to Alexandra Dulgheru. But she arrived a bit tired in Paris as she played the final on the eve of the French Open start.

"Today my leg is feeling not so well," Zheng said. "I was injured in the first-round match. Right leg injury. ... I want to try to play more aggressive because I know I can't move too much. But I made a lot of mistakes today."

Pivovarova, who traveled to Paris with her mother Tatiana, will next play seventh-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia.

"I'm very excited," the 19-year-old Russian said. "When I went to the court, I had already my tactics and I just tried to follow them. ... I think I played smart in the important points because it was a pretty close match. I just took my chances, I didn't wait for mistakes."