Local hope Peng Shuai grabbed the last berth of the last four at the China Open WTA tournament after rallying past third-seeded Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo in the quarterfinals at the Beijing Tennis Center on Friday.
The two-times Grand Slam winner ran out of gas in the last two sets, slumping to the 21-year-old Chinese girl 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in two and a half hours.
"I was disappointed to lose the match and fail to reach the semifinals. I had thought I could win by two sets but I was physically worn down at the end of the second set and in the third set, although I played pretty well in the opening set," said Mauresmo at the press conference. "Besides, I only have ten days to prepare China Open."
Peng's reward will be a Saturday semifinal against Hungarian sixth seed Agnes Szavay, who produced an impressive display of baseline hitting to sweep past lucky loser Emilia Salerni from Argentina 6-2, 6-4.
The No. 113 Argentine received a place in the draw when top seed and title holder Svetlana Kuznetsova withdrew with an abdominal injury before her opening match.
After a solid start in the first set, Peng seemed shaky being 40-15 down in the second service game, but she saved three break points in all to hold serve characterized with all-court running and spectacular returns.
Peng, likely to be at about the peak of her game this season thrashing Swiss Martina Hingis in the second round, was again in deep trouble in the ninth game, allowing her opponent three breaking opportunities.
The Frenchwoman converted on the second and never looked back before drawing first blood at 6-4.
The second set was much tighter, and after two exchanges of breaks at 4-4, Peng started to show more battling qualities, holding serve in the ninth game while facing two break points and went on to take decisive break in the next game to pull back one set.
Inspired by a thunderous audience, Peng, last year's semifinalist here, was in a class of her own, stretching Mauresmo all the way while the 28-year-old Frenchwoman was troubled with too many unforced errors, losing the final set at 6-2.
Despite the ranking of 49th in the world, Peng has been very dangerous in the past, notching three top 10 wins in her young career, all on hardcourt, before she came into the quarterfinal.
"Peng play good tennis from the baseline and did better and better in the match, especially on the home court," said the 28-year-old Frenchwoman, who has not struck a ball since participating in France's 3-2 Fed Cup defeat to Italy in July because of an adductor strain.
The former world No.1 bad fortunes as she has struggled for form and fitness this season, failing to make it beyond the quarterfinals in over half the tournaments she has competed in.