The third round has now been completed and a large majority of top players progressed into the quarter finals.
(Rank/Seed)
1/1 Williams continued to struggle through her matches in barely edging (18/-) 2005 champion Kirilenko 75 75. The Russian was the first player to break serve (at love) in the seventh game and then held 3 set points at 40-0 serving at 5-4. Once again as in her 2nd round when facing set points, Serena played calmly to stave them off and ultimately win the set. She also trailed a break in the second set but managed through the help of 31 winners to claim her 7th win in as many meetings with Maria. It was Serena's 70th match win of the year (her previous best was the 58 she won last year) and amazingly, this is Williams's first quarter final in Beijing since she won the title in 2004!
4/3 Radwanska handled qualifier Hercog in a deceptively tough match 60 62 to move into her 4th Beijing quarter final.
5/4 Li continued her impressive form with a tough 75 64 win over (16/13) Lisicki to thrill the home crowd. Li kept particularly calm under pressure despite relinquishing a break lead in the first set to find herself at 5-5 and then later trailing a break in the second set. Despite her opponents booming serve, forehand and 2-1 head to head advantage, Li saved break points to close out the match to reach her 4th Beijing quarter final.
7/9 Kvitova battled hard past (6/5) Errani 64 67(3) 63, hitting 65 winners to her opponents 13. The Czech had initially led 3-1 in the second set but her backhand became surprisingly errant and Errani took advantage, extending Petra to a third set for a third straight meeting. However, though the Italian was obviously playing her best tennis in months, Kvitova got a strong start in the third set and maintained her advantage to beat Errani for a 6th time in as many meetings and reach her 1st Beijing quarter final. It was Kvitova's 23rd three set win of the year, more than any other player this century!
8/6 Wozniacki consummately beat a bizarrely conservative (13/11) Stephens 63 61 for her 3rd win in as many meetings and a place in her 3rd Beijing quarter final.
9/7 Kerber levelled her head to head at 2-2 with (12/10) Vinci in beating her 62 64. Vinci tried to use her forehand to get into the net as often as she could but as usual, Kerber had all the answers on the backfoot to move into her 2nd straight Beijing quarter final.
Elsewhere, (11/8) Jankovic avenged a loss here a year ago to (15/12) Suarez Navarro with an emphatic 60 60 demolition job, the same score line that the Spaniard suffered against Serena at the US Open! Jankovic moves into her 5th Beijing quarter final; a first since her title run in 2008. (34/-) Safarova continued her strong autumn with a 64 67(4) 76(2) win over (43/-) Petkovic to avenge losses to the German here in 2010 and 2011.
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