China's top-ranked women's tennis player Peng Shuai is disappointed to exit the Australian Open after a fourth-round defeat to Maria Sharapova Sunday.
Peng, who was the 22nd seed at the Australian Open, matched her best ever result at the tournament after qualifying for the fourth round with consecutive straight sets victories over Tatjana Maria, Magdalena Rybarikova and Yaroslava Shvedova, reports Xinhua.
However, World No.2 Sharapova proved a difference in class as the five-time Grand Slam champion eased into the quarter-finals.
After her 3-6, 0-6 defeat to Sharapova, Peng said that although she is satisfied with her performances throughout the Australian Open, she is upset not to go further in the competition.
"For sure, I wanted to go further. Making the fourth round was my best (result) at the Australian Open," Peng said.
"Before the match, I just wanted to play good and today was not going too good with my serve and she's a very good player. It's (fourth round) is not bad, but it's not good. I want to get better for the next tournament and keep working and try to improve more."
Despite holding her first two service games of the match, Peng would only win one of the remaining 11 games to fall to a hard fought defeat.
Afterwards, Peng said she did not feel she was serving at her best.
"At the start, it was okay with my serve, but she played well," Peng said.
"In the second set, I didn't like my service game. I had one chance at deuce and one chance at 40-15 and didn't take it. After that, she played well."
After a relatively successful 2014, where she qualified for the semi-finals of the US Open and the fourth round of Wimbledon, as well as making the final of the Shenzhen Open, Peng was happy to enter this year's tournament inside the WTA top 32.
"I was happy to be seeded this year, so for the first time I didn't have to play a seeded player in the first round," Peng said. "It was very different."
Last year, Li Na became the first Chinese player to ever win the Australian Open when she recorded a 7-6 (7-3), 6-0 victory over Dominika Cibulkova.
However, Peng does not feel a burden of expectation placed on her shoulders in representing Li following her retirement.
"She had an amazing result and in China, with the fans, everyone was so excited. She made tennis more popular in China. For me, I just have to practice. I don't like thinking about it too much. I just want to keep working hard," Peng said.
