Sports
14:45, 18-Nov-2018
China's former No.1 Peng Shuai storms into Houston 125K final
Updated
14:25, 21-Nov-2018
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Chinese veteran tennis ace Peng Shuai moved closer to the Oracle Challenger Series title after outclassing Jessica Pegula at the 125,000 US dollars WTA tournament in Houston on Saturday.
The 32-year-old China's former No.1, who competed for her first fixture since Wimbledon, swatted aside the American 4th seed Jessica Pegula 6-4 6-3 to set up a meeting with former World No. 26 Lauren Davis.
Returning from a suspension for breaching the sport's anti-corruption code, Peng's level rarely dropped throughout the semi-final victory and resisted a late rally from Pegula before coming off a straight sets win.
Peng's path to the final is far from straightforward. After coming through as a wildcard, she edged out Brazilian talent Beatriz Haddad Maia with a hard-fought comeback victory earlier in the week, as well as eliminating Swiss top seed Belinda Bencic.
Peng will undoubtedly face a sterner test in the final against Davis, whose recent stellar form saw her run past 9th seed Nicole Gibbs, Kristina Kucova of Slovakia and Canadian rising star Katherine Sebov.