By Dinny Navaratnam
Olympic semi-finalist Li Na headed a group of Chinese women who crashed out in Beijing in the China Open overnight.
Li was unsuccessful in her match against Italy’s Francesca Schiavone, going down 6-1, 7-6(4).
Peng Shuai, Yan Zi and Zhang Shuai were the other Chinese casualties.
Wimbledon semi-finalist Jie Zheng is the only Chinese woman remaining, and was leading 3-0 against sixth-seed Agnieszka Radwanska before rain interrupted play.
In other results, last year’s champion Agnes Szavay triumphed over Yaroslava Svedova 6-4, 6-3, while Russia’s Anna Chakvetadze beat lucky loser Iveta Benesova 6-4, 7-5.
On the men’s side of the draw, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Tommy Robredo had easy victories to reach the second round.