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| Vera Zvonareva of Russia serves a ball to Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine during the second round match of women's singles at US Open Tennis Championships in New York, Aug. 31, 2011. Zvonareva won 2-1. (Xinhua/Shen Hong) |
NEW YORK, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Second-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva had to go through three ragged sets to reach the third round of U.S. Open on Wednesday, beating 69th-ranked Kateryna Bondarenko 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.
Eighth-seed Marion Bartoli of France failed to advance into the third round, losing to U.S. player Christina McHale 7-6 (2), 6-2.
Two-time champion Venus Williams pulled out, citing an autoimmune disease of Sjogren's Syndrome.
Australia's Samantha Stosur, seeded nine, powered off American Coco Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-4.
China's Peng Shuai, No. 13 of the tournament, dispatched Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova in straight sets of 6-2, 6-4.
With the winners of the last four grand slam winners missing from the second round, players with a lot of grand slam experience are in short supply. Zvonareva has that as the runner up both at Wimbledon and here at Flushing Meadows in 2010.
"I think I didn't play my best tennis, but I managed to go, to get through this one," Zvonareva said. "I gave myself another chance to go out there and next time and try to do a little bit better."
Zvonareva was dismantled by Belgian star Kim Clijsters in last year's U.S. Open finale.
"I wouldn't say I'm pleased with the quality of tennis I showed, but I'm pleased the way I handled the match," said Zvonareva, who overcame 46 unforced errors.
McHale reached the third round of a grand slam tournament for the first time. The 19-year-old is ranked a career-high 55th and beat No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in Cincinnati this month.
Bartoli, a 26-year-old, was a semifinalist at Roland Garros this year.
Another American women posted surprise victory was Irina Falconi, who edged out Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia from a set down, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.
