Nathalie Dechy helped ease France's Fed Cup misery as she ousted China's Peng Shuai in straight sets to advance to the second round of the WTA tournament here on Wednesday. Peng, 22, had been a key player in China's 3-2 World Group success over France at the weekend when she gave the hosts their first point with a surprise win over Virginie Razzano in Beijing.
But Dechy proved she was master at home beating Peng 6-4, 7-6 (10/8), at the Pierre de Coubertin stadium. "It was revenge even if it doesn't make up for the defeat at the weekend," said wild card Dechy, who lost her doubles tie with Razzano in China. Peng missed her chance to force a third set as she threw away a 6-1 lead in the tie-break.
"I thought it was going to be a third set. So I said to myself 'you have to give it everything you have'," said a jet-lagged Dechy. Peng admitted: "I never had that happen in a tie-break before - being 6-1 up. I tried to fight but didn't have the confidence on the court today. "People were supporting her but that wasn't really part of it. They played in China and that was very difficult for them as well."
Dechy, ranked 64th, looked in command early in her first meeting against 50th-ranked Peng as she broke her opponent's opening service game and quickly rushed to a 3-0 lead. Peng threw away a chance to level 5-5 and keep herself in the first set, allowing Dechy come back from 0-40 down to clinch the first set with effective use of her forehand.
The 28-year-old Frenchwoman, making her 11th appearance in Paris, broke for 5-3 in the second set, but signs of fatigue showed as she became distracted by contested line calls, dropping serve and allowing Peng level 5-5. The girl from Tian Jin looked on her way back as she went 6-5, but Dechy held on to force the tie-break.
Peng raced to a 5-0 advantage, but the tide turned in Dechy's favour again as she battled back and in a tense finale wrapped up the match after 1hr 51min when her opponent hit long.
Despite the disappointment Peng said her focus remains the Beijing Olympics which not even the Chinese New Year celebrations can distract her from. "I will have many New Year's when I have retired but this year I'm focusing on tennis," said Peng. "The Olympics are really big for China and there are great expectations of me." Dechy will next meet top-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze, the recipient of a first round bye, for a place in the quarter-finals.
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