Peng preparing for Sharapova showdown
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China Daily, June 27, 2011
Peng Shuai, China's last hope at Wimbledon, said she would be ready for Maria Sharapova when the 20th seed goes head to head with the Russian 2004 champion.
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Peng Shuai of China serves during her third round match of women's singles against Melinda Czink of Hungary in 2011 Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, June 25, 2011. Peng won 2-0. |
Peng and fifth seed Sharapova face off in a fourth round clash on the 4,000-seater Court 2 at 1100 GMT Monday for a place in the quarterfinals.
Sharapova was full of praise for the Chinese No 2 and said she would have to be well prepared to face the 25-year-old.
"She has a great game for the grass," the Siberian said.
"She hits really flat, stays quite low. Her balls come pretty deep. The last time we played was in Indian Wells earlier this year. It was a tough match.
"She's playing some of the best tennis of her career. No doubt she'll be out there playing loose and good tennis so I'll have to be ready."
Peng told AFP: "I will also have to be ready because she's a really good player. Her game is also good on grass because she's tall, has a big serve, forehand and backhand.
"I will try to fight and play hopefully some good tennis.
"I played her this year in Indian Wells. It was a tough match. I will try again this time.
"I will try to keep my run going. My confidence is better than before because last year I didn't play that many tournaments but this year I played a lot of matches."
Sharapova won that quarterfinal at Indian Wells in three sets and beat Peng on the Berlin clay in 2005. However, the Chinese won on their only other clash on the Beijing hard courts in 2008.
Peng is planning on taking it easy ahead of Monday's match-up.
Besides the singles, she is in the ladies' doubles with compatriot Zheng Jie, where they are seeded eighth. They made it through to the round of 32 with a first-round win on Saturday.
"I'm going to rest because the schedule is really tough. In the first four days I only played one match and then now it's singles, doubles, singles, doubles, so it's a bit tiring," Peng said.
"On Sunday I will relax. In the evening I will talk with my coach about the Sharapova match."
