BANGKOK: Russia's Evgeniya Rodina comfortably dispatched Japan's Kurumi Nara in another surprise upset at Pattaya Thursday to make it through to the third round of the WTA tournament.
Right-handed Rodina, ranked 109 in the world, saw off fourth seed Nara 6-2, 6-4 in a little over an hour at the popular Thai seaside resort.
A day earlier China's top ranked player Peng Shuai tumbled out of the tournament to Japan's unfancied Misaki Doi in a three set loss.
China's Lin Zhu was forced to pull out of her second round match Thursday against compatriot Ying-Ying Duan. At the time Lin had just lost the first set 6-1.
Russia's Daniela Hantuchova also saw off China's Saisai Zheng 7-6, 6-2.
The Russians have so far made a strong showing at Pattaya. Rodina and Hantuchova will join fellow Russian and two-time Grand Slam finalist Vera Zvonareva in the third round.
The 30-year-old Zvonareva is on something of a comeback trail, after injury and poor form saw her drop from a top-ten career high in 2010 to a current WTA ranking of 189th in the world, 80 places behind Rodina.
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