Flavia Pennetta of Italy reacts during the women's singles third round match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, China, Oct. 8, 2015. Pennetta lost the match 1-2. (Photo: Xinhua/Li Wen)
U.S. Open champion and third-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy crashed out at the China Open women's singles third round with a 6-3, 4-6, 3-6 loss to Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Thursday.
"We both played really well. I think she was really consistent, not making too many mistakes," Pennetta commented on her opponent's performance.
World No. 7 Pennetta won her previous two encounters with Pavlyuchenkova in 2008 and 2011. At 33 years and six months, Pennetta became the oldest first-time Grand Slam champion in Open Era at U.S. Open, breaking the record held by countrywoman Schiavone.
After her success in the US Open, Pennetta initially decided to end her professional career, while changing her mind to play in the Asia swing. She is scheduled to play in Tianjin Open next week.
"I would like to finish the year, so that's what I say before also in US Open. I'm here because I would like to finish in the high way I can do, and then it's over," said Pennetta.
On her eighth appearance in Beijing, Pennetta beat Chinese wild card player Han Xinyun and Teliana Pereira in previous two rounds.
After trailing by 2-3 in the first set against Pavlyuchenkova, Pennetta took on a four-game winning streak to win at 6-3, before the Russian girl made a strong comeback.
Pavlyuchenkova won the second set 6-4. After building a 3-0 lead in the tiebreaker, she maintained that lead to secure the 6-3 victory.
Before Pennetta's exit, top-seeded Simona Halep had withdrawn at the first round, with second seed Petra Kvitova falling at the same stage. Polish Agnieszka Radwanska became the highest-seeded girl currently in China Open, as the fourth seed advanced to last 8 on Wednesday.
