Chinese tennis player Zheng Jie (left) is stopped only one step away from the quarterfinals at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida, after a 6-4,7-5 loss to Jelena Jankovic on Tuesday, April 1, 2008. [Photo: sohu.com]

The upsurge of the Chinese player Zheng Jie at the Sony Ericsson Tennis Open was snapped by the 4th-seeded Jelena Jankovic on early Tuesday in a close match that ended with 6-4,7-5.

The defeat set back Zheng's effort to reach the quarter finals at the Miami event for the second time. She broke into the last eight playoffs in 2006.

Jankovic entered the semifinals at this year's Australia Open, the best in her career, and Zheng only won one out of the three clashes against the Serbian. But on Tuesday, Zheng erupted with a flying start.

The Chinese ace went to a 2-0 lead with a break in the second game and had five break points in the eighth. Zheng would have extended her margin with turning any of them to a point, but she lost all eventually.

Zheng's loss helped the reviving Jankovic to reverse the score and won the opener, before rushing to a 3-1 edge in the second game.

Zheng hit back with breaks but failed to stop the rival due to disadvantages in technique and physical strength.

(CRI April 2, 2008)