page_title: Peng Shuai
section_title: 2011
hierarchical_section_title: Peng Shuai / Career / 2011
caption_attribution_description: Peng Shuai
context_page_description: Peng Shuai is a Chinese professional female tennis player. She reached a career-high of world No. 1 in the doubles ranking by the Women's Tennis Association as the first Chinese tennis player in February 2014. In August 2011, she peaked at No. 14 of the singles rankings. Peng has won two singles and 22 doubles titles. She won a gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games, defeating Akgul Amanmuradova in the final. At the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, Peng won her first ladies' doubles championship with Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and again won at the 2014 French Open with Hsieh. Her best performance at a Grand Slam tournament in singles came at the 2014 US Open when she reached the semifinals, becoming the third Chinese tennis player in history to make a major semifinal after Zheng Jie and Li Na.
  Peng is known for playing with two hands on both sides and hits very flat. She has defeated many top-10 and top-5 players, including Anastasia Myskina, Elena Dementieva, Kim Clijsters, Amélie Mauresmo, Francesca Schiavone, Jelena Janković, Agnieszka Radwańska, and Vera Zvonareva.
context_section_description: Peng kicked off her 2011 season in Auckland at the ASB Classic. She was unseeded and defeated Johanna Larsson in the first round 6–1, 6–3. In the second round, she caused a big upset by defeating No. 3 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova after being a double break down 0–3 in the final set. In the quarterfinals, she defeated British qualifier Heather Watson. Despite playing some of her best tennis in the semifinals, Peng lost to defending champion and No. 2 seed, Yanina Wickmayer in 2 hours and 53 minutes.
  In the first round of the Hobart International, Peng took out No. 3 seed Tsvetana Pironkova in the first round. She then defeated qualifier Olga Govortsova, and No. 7 seed Sara Errani in straight sets to move into her second semifinal of 2011 where she lost to Bethanie Mattek-Sands in three.
  At the Australian Open, Peng was unseeded and defeated Kateryna Bondarenko in the first round. She then toppled seventh seed Jelena Janković in the second round. She then moved into the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career after a three-set win over Ayumi Morita. In the fourth round, Peng was defeated in a hard-fought match against 12th seed Agnieszka Radwańska, despite having two match points at 5–4 in the final set. After her fourth round performance, her ranking rose to No. 40, making her the second highest-ranked Chinese player after Li Na, since Zheng Jie slipped down the rankings after not being able to defend her semifinal points.
  Peng's next tournament was the Pattaya Open. She was seeded sixth and defeated Chan Yung-jan in the first round and in the second round she defeated Elena Baltacha. In the quarterfinals, she was narrowly defeated by top seed Vera Zvonareva despite being up 4–3, 40–15 in the final set.
  At the Dubai Tennis Championships, Peng entered the qualifying draw as the No. 2 seed and defeated wildcard Vanessa Henke in the first round 6–1, 6–0. She then qualified for the main draw with a win over No. 11 seed Kateryna Bondarenko. Peng got her revenge on Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the first round, defeating her this time in three sets. She was then defeated by No. 7 seed Victoria Azarenka in the second round in 2 hours and 23 minutes.
  Peng then qualified for the main draw of the Qatar Ladies Open. Seeded No. 3, she defeated Nuria Llagostera Vives, Anastasia Rodionova, and Elena Vesnina. In the first round of the main draw, she defeated Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets. In the second round, she played No. 3 seed Francesca Schiavone, whom she defeated. In the quarterfinals, faced Marion Bartoli, losing in straight sets, for the first time in the season.
  Peng then entered the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. She narrowly missed out on being seeded and defeated Renata Voráčová in the first round. In the second round, she defeated compatriot and No. 7 seed Li Na for the first time in her career. In the third round she came back from 2–5 down in the final set to beat Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecká. In the fourth round, she battled past 18th seed Nadia Petrova, 16th seed Maria Sharapova defeated her 6–2, 5–7, 6–3 in a 2-hour 22 minute quarterfinal match. Peng moved up to No. 32 in the world as a result, one spot off her career high of 31.
  Her next tournament was the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. Unseeded, she defeated Gréta Arn in the first round 6–1, 6–2, and followed that up with a win against 20th seed Aravane Rezaï in the second round 6–0, 6–4. She then defeated 11th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–3, 6–1 in the third round, avenging her loss to the same player at this event the previous year. Peng then fell to 26th seed Alexandra Dulgheru 3–6, 4–6 but reached the semifinals of the doubles competition with Shahar Pe'er.
  Peng rose to a new career high ranking of No. 30 and was seeded 11th at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston. In the first round, she defeated qualifier Sloane Stephens 6–2, 6–1. She then defeated Ayumi Morita in the second round, with the same score. In the third round, she outlasted seventh seed Nadia Petrova to reach the quarterfinals where she defeated Indian qualifier Sania Mirza. Elena 
caption: Peng in 2011
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