Sara has reached the second round in the mandatory tournament in Beijing, by beating Shaui Peng in three sets: 1-6 6-4 6-1.

The first set started really close, but then Peng took the edge, and dominated the match until she was up 6-1 4-2. At that point Sara started coming back, and won the second set 6-4. The start of the third set was quite close again, both players had breakpoints in the first three games, but when Sara finally took her 10th (!), Peng’s resistance was broken and she only won one more point.

In the second round, Sara will face Caroline Wozniacki. They have met twice before, and Sara won their last meeting, on hardcourt in Portoroz in 2008. However, Wozniacki is not the player she was then; if she reaches the quarterfinal in Beijing she will become the new world #1.