Safina beaten by wild card Shuai
Published:Monday | October 5, 2009 | 5:50 PM
World Number One Dinara Safina suffered a shock 7-5, 7-6 defeat to local wild card entrant Zhang Shuai in the China Open second today.
The defeat could lead to the Russian\'s losing the top ranking to Serena Williams.
According to the points reckoning, Safina would lose her Number 1 ranking to Serena Williams if she finished behind the American, who won her first round match Saturday against Estonia\'s Kaia Kanepi.
Serena Williams next faces Russian Ekaterina Makarova tomorrow. Safina can hold on to the top ranking if Serena loses.
In other matches, Venus Williams fell 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 to Russian teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, while Novak Djokovic fired 10 aces in a 6-3, 7-5 win over Romania\'s Victor Hanescu.
Meanwhile, Number 2 Rafael Nadal and defending China Open champion Andy Roddick start their campaigns in the men\'s draw tomorrow.