Sharapova beaten by China shock specialist Peng

A tired looking Maria Sharapova bowed out of the third round of the $6.6 million China Open on Wednesday, beaten 6-2, 6-4 by China's Peng Shuai to the delight of the crowd at the Olympic tennis centre.

The Russian, who claimed her first title triumph since returning from a shoulder injury in Tokyo last Saturday, had to come from 5-2 down in the third set to win a three-hour opening match Tuesday.

However, there was to be no fight back from the former world number one Wednesday and Peng upset a high profile player for the second evening in a row after her second round win over defending champion Jelena Jankovic.

Peng must next beat either second seed Serena Williams or Nadia Petrova for a place in the China Open semi-finals for the third time.

Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2006 China Open champion, overcame a stuttering serve to claim her place in the last eight with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-0 victory over Ukraine's Alona Bodarenko.

The sixth seeded Russian will face compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarter-finals after the teen-ager beat Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 6-4, 6-4.

Men's fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko earlier boosted his chances of reaching the ATP Tour's season finale for a fifth time with a 6-1, 6-0 thrashing of Philipp Kohlschreiber.

The workaholic Russian, who won his third title of the year in Kuala Lumpur last weekend, wasted no time in dispensing with the 22nd-ranked German to reach the quarter-finals.

The world number eight reached the final of the last version of the Masters Cup in Shanghai last year and needs a good result in Beijing to stay in contention for one of three remaining places in the new season-ending World Tour Finals in London.

Davydenko will meet Croatian Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals after the eighth seed beat France's Julien Benneteau 6-2, 2-6, 6-0 earlier Wednesday.

Second seed Novak Djokovic takes on fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki in the final match of the day on centre court.