Slovakian star knocks Zheng out

Agence France-Presse

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Zheng, seeded 16th, came of age at the All-England Club last year when victories over top seed Ana Ivanovic and the highly ranked Nicole Vaidisova and Agnes Szavay made her the first Chinese to reach a Grand Slam singles semi-final.

But early exits from the French Open and grass-court tournaments at Birmingham and Eastbourne suggested Zheng was enduring her first dip for over a year.

That slump shows no signs of abating. Zheng, the world number 16, had found it hard to impose herself for long spells of her first round victory over Kristina Barrois and, despite a battling display, she had no answer to the power and poise of Hantuchova.

The Slovakian reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2002 before climbing to number five in the world rankings and, although she is now ranked 32nd, she clearly has the perfect game for grass.

Hantuchova will meet Japan's Ai Sugiyama in the third round.