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Wozniacki outlasted by gritty Zvonareva

Maria Sharapova strains to stay in a point © PA Photos

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Vera Zvonareva managed to steady herself after losing the second set to come back strongly and beat world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in three sets at the WTA Championships.

Zvonareva came into the Red Group contest having lost her first match against Petra Kvitova - whereas Wozniacki had defeated Agnieszka Radwanska - but the roles were reversed on Wednesday, as the Russian showed great strength to clinch a 6-2 4-6 6-3 triumph.

In a gruelling contest that lasted well over two hours, it was ultimately Wozniacki who cracked under the pressure - as she failed to win a single point on her second serve as she to lose a bit of energy. Zvonareva hardly raised her game either, but was able to overcome a break of serve to condemn the Dane to her first defeat in the end of the season event.

Elsewhere, Maria Sharapova slumped to her second successive of the tournament against Li Na, a defeat that ended any slim hopes she had of overtaking Wozniacki and ending the season as world No. 1.

Sharapova fell apart in a first-set tie-break to hand her Chinese opponent the initiative, as Li went on to claim a 7-6(4) 6-4 victory.

In what was a repeat of the French Open semi-final - won by Li on that occasion too - Sharapova only had herself to blame for her defeat. She raced into a 4-1 advantage in the opening set before getting dragged into a tie-break - before engineering a 4-0 lead in that, too.

But a string of unforced errors proved her rapid undoing, as Li won seven points in a row to move a set ahead. The eventual champion at Roland Garros looked like returning the favour after giving up two break points while serving for the match at 5-4, but held her nerve to claim a significant victory after Sharapova fired a forehand long.

"It's the first match I've won since (before) the U.S. Open," she noted afterwards. "I was fighting a lot.

"Tennis is easy. You don't need to think too much about it. It's black and white."

Earlier in the day, Victoria Azarenka made light work of reigning US Open champion Sam Stosur, condemning the Australian to her first defeat of the tournament after a 6-2 6-2 defeat.

Stosur could have had cause to blame organisers for the result, however, after she found herself first back on court on Wednesday having been last to finish on Tuesday evening.

"Oh, I can't blame that," she said. "It was a quick turnaround, but I felt like I was ready to go.

"It just wasn't fast or crisp enough. I felt like I got pushed around the court."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.