PARIS, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Shuai had to say goodbye to 2017 French Open after losing to the eighth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-5 in women's singles third round here on Friday, meaning that none of Chinese women's tennis players stayed alive in the singles event.
Zhang set her personal best at Roland Garros by reaching the last 32 with two victories over unseeded players, before facing tougher challenge from the two-time Grand Slam singles winner Kuznetsova.
Zhang suffered a break early in the first game with a poor backhand attack, before both players traded advantage to level the score at 4-all.
They went on to force a tiebreak in the first set, where Kuznetsova took the initiative at 5-1, while Zhang won three points in a row to bounce back.
However, the No. 32 seed Zhang still failed to nail the victory as she lost 7-5 in the tiebreak.
A crucial break in the ninth game of the second set earned Zhang a 6-4 win, but she was much restrained by her Russian opponent's high-quality attack and tireless running, as Kuznetsova built a 4-1 lead in the decisive set.
The match went in a controversial manner when Kuznetsova led 5-3 and two players tied at 15 in the ninth game. Zhang's hit was ruled outside by the referee after an on-site inspection, and her challenge was later waved off.
Tears began to fall down on Zhang's face. The Chinese top-ranked player had to hide them with a towel from a ball boy.
Zhang made her quick adjustment when trailing 15-40, as she saved two match points from Kuznetsova, breaking to pull one game back, before continuing to hold her serve for a 5-5 tie.
Leading 6-5, Kuznetsova had another two match points in the 12th game. After a backhand attack went out, Zhang stopped her quest for a last 16 berth in the tournament.
China's Duan Yingying and Peng Shuai moved into last 16 of women's doubles with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Russian duo of Daria Kasatkina and Irina Khromacheva.
"My partner has little experience in the doubles event. I felt that she was sort of nervous in the first round, but she improved a lot in the second round. However, that proved nothing about our chances of winning the title here," said Peng.
"It's a good start, and a good experience. We will just focus on our next match," she added.
Xu Yifan and Frenchman Fabrice Martin lost to French duo of Chloe Paquet and Benoit Paire 6-2, 5-7, 10-5 in the first round of mixed doubles.
