Radwanska survives first-round battle in Shenzhen

Tuesday, 3 January 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

AFP: Top seed and defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland scraped a hard-fought 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-5 victory against lower-ranked Ying-Ying Duan at the WTA Shenzhen Open on Monday to advance to the second round.

Radwanska, ranked third in the world, took nearly two and a half hours to overcome a stiff challenge from her 103rd-ranked Chinese opponent, winning fewer of her first service points but slamming down seven aces to Duan’s four.

The Pole saved three match points in the third set on her way to claiming victory.

Second seed Simona Halep of Romania triumphed in a three-set thriller 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 over Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, formerly the world’s top-ranked female player.

Halep bounced back after a second-set loss to win a place in the second round against Katerina Siniakova, who defeated hometown favourite Shuai Peng 6-3, 7-5.

Third seed Johanna Konta of Britain made a strong start to the tournament with a dominant 6-2, 6-0 performance over Caga Buyukakcay, taking less than an hour to defeat her Turkish opponent.

Konta enters 2017 as a top ten player for the first time in her career. She will face 27-year-old American veteran Vania King.

Fourth seed Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland pulled out of the tournament on Monday due to an abdominal injury.