CARSON, Calif. — Zheng Jie of China upset top-ranked Dinara Safina 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in the third round of the LA Women’s Tennis Championships on Thursday night, beating the Russian for the first time in five career meetings.
Safina, the defending tournament champion and runner-up at the Australian and French opens this year, is in her 16th consecutive week as the world’s top-ranked women’s player.
Zheng is ranked 23rd in the world. She has won three career titles on the WTA Tour, but none since 2006. She is best known for reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon last year, the first Chinese player to do so.
Earlier, Maria Sharapova rallied for a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 win over Alona Bondarenko, avenging a 6-2, 6-2 loss in May when Sharapova rejoined the tour after a seven-month layoff because of a right shoulder injury.
Samantha Stosur defeated sixth-seeded Ivanovic 6-3, 6-2, in the third round. Stosur, seeded 13th, needed 62 minutes to overcome the 2007 tournament champion.
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