Zheng Jie advances in Miami

BEIJING, April 1 -- Chinese women tennis player Zheng Jie reached the fourth round of the WTA Sony Ericsson Open with a grueling 5-7,6-4,6-4 victory over the French strong Amelie Mauresmo on Sunday.

Zheng took the Mauresmo battle after a lucky win over the 14th-seeded Nadia Petrova at the Miami tournament on Sunday. The Russian retreated for an unexpected injury just four games into the opening set.

The clashes with the former world No.1 is always difficult for the Chinese and this time pressure remained: Zheng hard saved a set point in the 9th game but lost the tug of war that ended with the French winning the tie-breaker.

But in the second, Zheng proved her improvement in both technique and psychology. After losing her serve game in the 7th, Zheng hit back in time to tie the score at 4-4 and with another break in the 10th game, Zheng pulled it level again.

Riding on the wave of emotion, Zheng continued her upsurge in the third set in which the Grand Slam double event champion accomplished three breaks to wrap up the final victory in two hours and 22 minutes.

With the win, Zheng will meet Serbian Jelena Jankovic late on Monday.

(Agencies)